Canada at a Crisis Point: Do we Manage our Growth or Accept our Decline?
Canada is at a crossroads. Our population is aging, our fertility rates are below replacement levels, and our workforce is shrinking. As the non-working-age population grows, and as people live longer, the burden on our working-age population will only increase. This will slow economic growth, which in turn affects governments’ fiscal flexibility to provide the programs and services – like high-quality healthcare and education, income security, and much-needed infrastructure – we rely on.
With some projections suggesting that Canadian birthrates could decline further because of the pandemic, this issue should be top of mind for policy-makers. It should also be of concern to the charitable sector, particularly those organizations providing social supports and services and who may experience greater demand if government’s ability to fund similar programs comes under pressure.
Today, Canada ranks 35th in the world in population size, despite being one of the biggest countries by landmass. Similarly, we rank 32nd in GDP per capita and 30th in terms of the size of our labour force. While the rankings themselves aren’t important, they do flag some worrying trends related to our population, and in turn our economic potential. Without a growing population, we will not have the resources – whether we’re talking about the human resources or financial means – to advance the country’s social, economic, or environmental goals.
In his book How We Can Win (co-written by Kate Fillion), venture capitalist Anthony Lacavera writes, “Canada is at a critical moment, an inflection point where all of us have a responsibility to try to bend the arc of history in the right direction, so that our children and their children enjoy the same quality of life and equality of opportunity that we have had. That will not happen if, collectively, we keep going for bronze.”
To enhance our economic strength, diversity at home, and our influence abroad, we must prioritize population growth, with immigration as a key driver of this growth. But population growth alone isn’t enough, and it won’t happen overnight. It takes long-term vision and planning. For instance, we need to consider how we support a growing population. That means thinking about the kind of infrastructure we need – from hospitals, roads, and schools to the digital infrastructure we increasingly rely on to connect socially and conduct business. It means thinking about what supports, services, and programs are required if we want to encourage larger families, the kinds of supports and services that allow a family to make the choice to have more children. And it means thinking about our longer-term labour and skills needs so that we can focus on attracting immigrants, and their families, that can help to fill our persistent skills gaps. We also need to think about how we will help Canadians understand not just the need to grow our population, but to grow it primarily through immigration.
Click here to read the full article on The Philanthropist website