As the ratio of working Canadians to seniors continues to shrink, it will strain government spending earmarked for older folks in the years ahead due to fewer working taxpayers, a new study finds.
“Workers pay the bulk of taxes, which governments need to fund important services, including health care and income transfers to seniors,” said study co-author Ben Eisen, a senior fellow at the Fraser Institute, in a release on May 26.
“As the relative number of seniors grows, and the relative number of workers declines, government finances across Canada will be put under increasing strain.”
The study finds that the share of Canada’s population aged 65 or older has increased from 14.1 percent in 2010 to 19 percent in 2022, while the share of the working population, those aged 15 to 64, has declined rapidly since the mid-1960s….