The older people are all right

Canada’s population is rapidly aging, with baby boomers mostly retired or retiring soon, Canadians living longer and fewer births. 

Approximately 7.6 million Canadians were aged 65 and older on July 1, 2023, accounting for almost one-fifth (18.9%) of the total population. By 2030, seniors could represent from 21.4% to 23.4% of the total population. As we mark Canada’s upcoming National Seniors Day and the United Nation’s International Day of Older Persons, on October 1, let’s take a look at how seniors are faring in Canada today, including how they continue to contribute to the economic and social fabric of our country.

Older people have more trust in others

Trust in others can help build interpersonal relationships and promote cooperation between individuals. A higher level of trust in others not only has benefits for individuals and but also for society as a whole, with greater overall social cohesion.

Over one in four (28%) Canadians said they had a high level of trust in others in 2023. In other words, using a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 means "Cannot be trusted at all" and 10 means "Can be trusted completely," they assigned a trust score of 8 or higher to at least three of the following four groups of people: family, friends, neighbours and strangers.

Canadians aged 65 and older (39%) were almost twice as likely to have a high level of trust in others as young people aged 15 to 24 (20%). The difference between these two age groups was mainly attributable to the level of trust in neighbours, which was significantly higher among those aged 65 and older (43%) than among those aged 15 to 24 (22%).

Older people much more likely to be highly satisfied with their lives than younger adults

Less than half (48.6%) of Canadians aged 15 years and older were feeling highly satisfied with their lives in 2024, down from 54.0% three years earlier.

Meanwhile, seniors (aged 65 and older) reported the highest level of life satisfaction in 2024, with 61.5% feeling highly satisfied with their lives. This proportion has been relatively unchanged since 2021.

By way of comparison, just over one-third (36.9%) of younger adults aged 25 to 34 were highly satisfied with their lives in 2024.

Older people remain the most charitable in Canada

Just under 5 million Canadian tax filers (17.1% of all tax filers) declared making charitable donations in 2022. Over one-third (34.2%) of the Canadian tax filers declaring a charitable donation were aged 65 or older.

For every $100 donated in 2022, $48 was given by those aged 65 and older. At $590, the median donation of seniors was the highest of any age group.

The oldest Canadians volunteered the most hours on average prior to the pandemic

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, just under one-third of Canada’s oldest citizens, that is, those born in 1945 or earlier, volunteered on average 222 hours of their time per year, the most annual hours on average of any age group in 2018.

Furthermore, 3.6 million baby boomers, who had either retired or were fast approaching retirement, volunteered on average 153 hours per year in 2018.

Combined, these older Canadians volunteered 773 million hours of their time, equivalent to just over 400,000 full-time year-round jobs.

The most recent Survey on Giving, Volunteering and Participating wrapped up in March 2024. Results will be released in June 2025. A special thanks to all those who participated.

More older Canadians working compared with before the pandemic

Over 1.9 million Canadians aged 65 and older reported employment income in 2022, up from 1.8 million in 2019. Combined, these older Canadians made $58.8 billion (correction) in 2022.

Over one in four Canadian seniors report rising prices are greatly affecting their ability to meet day-to-day expenses

The impact of the spike in inflation in 2021 and 2022 is still being felt today. However, older Canadians are less likely to report feeling their budget stretched than younger Canadians.

In the spring of 2024, nearly half (45%) of Canadians reported that rising prices were greatly affecting their ability to meet day-to-day expenses, up 12 percentage points compared with two years earlier (33%).

By way of comparison, over one in four seniors (28%) reported that rising prices were greatly affecting their ability to meet day-to-day expenses in the spring of 2024. This was just over half the share for those aged 25 to 44 years (55%).

The median family after-tax income of older Canadians falls at a slower pace compared with the overall population

In 2022, the median family after-tax income of Canadians was $60,800, down 4.0% from one year earlier after adjusting for inflation.

Senior families (in which the oldest adult was aged 65 years and older) were among the least impacted by changes in inflation-adjusted income, with their income decreasing 1.8% from 2021 to $49,820 in 2022—a decline of less than half that of the national average.

Breaking senior families down by family type, the median family after-tax income decreased for both senior couples (-1,4% to $74,200) and senior lone parents (-1.4% to $69,880) in 2022, while it decreased for seniors not in census families (-1.2% to $30,820). 

Most Canadians aged 85 and older living in the community

One of the well-known side effects of aging is creaking bones and eventually failing health that requires medical care.

In 2019-2020, approximately 2.6 million Canadians aged 65 and older visited medical specialists, while 1.4 million got non-emergency tests, and 600,000 had non-emergency surgery.

Over one in six older Canadians reported difficulty in accessing specialist medical care over this period, while 6.4% had no family doctor.

Common difficulties in accessing health care services included difficulty getting a referral or an appointment, wait time being too long or services not being available at the time required.

Among Canadians aged 85 and older, just over two in three women and four in five men were living in the community in 2021, while the remainder were being cared for in a health care or related facility (31.5% of women and 19.5% of men).