Amidst worries about the aging population of Canada, a report released by Statistics Canada last week revealed that the working population in Alberta will remain relatively young owing to the new immigrants to Canada increasingly choosing to settle down in the province. According to the report, two largest cities of Alberta–Calgary and Edmonton–already have the highest labour force participation rate among the major population centres across the country. The labour force participation rate means the percentage of people above the age of 15, who are working or searching for a job. In 2017, Alberta’s labour force participation rate was around 72 per cent. Studies predict that this will dip slightly to 71 per cent by 2036. At the same time, the national labour force participation rate will come down to 62 per cent by that time.
However, the report points out that the labour force participation rate will not be the same in the urban and rural areas of Canada. A major reason for this is that young Canadians and immigrants are leaving rural areas to settle in major cities. As a result, the rural population is increasingly growing older. For example, the rural labour force participation rate is projected to fall to 58 per cent by 2036 in Ontario. At the same time, the rate will be as low as 53 per cent in Atlantic Canada in the same year.
In contrast to this, the rural abour force participation rate in Alberta is projected to be 68 per cent in 2036. The report further said that in 2017, about 31 per cent of people working in the Calgary and Edmonton metropolitan areas were born outside of Canada. The percentage is expected to grow to 43 per cent by 2036. Outside of Calgary and Edmonton, the percentage of foreign-born working population was about 12 per cent in 2017. This percentage will grow to 18 per cent in 2036.
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