The latest census data from Stats-Can shows almost one in five people in the Atlantic provinces were 65 or older last year…highest proportion in the country. The region also saw the biggest decline in people aged 15 to 64 from 2011 to last year.
Analysts say the falling birth rate and young people moving away to find work is due in part to disappearing family farms and shrinking resource sectors. It also says, however, that seniors are moving to this region from other provinces because of the slower pace of life and lower cost of living.
Researcher Donald Savoie of the Universite de Moncton says that means governments should be closing schools faster and putting the money into health care.