Canada In 2060
Changing Populations
Introduction
Canada is an absolutely fabulous country to live in. The welcoming people, fair government, high living standards, and of course great healthcare, make it one of the best countries in the world. In fact, we're 8th in the world for Human Development Index. TO make things even better, we're still growing. Although our population's growth is slow and already relatively small, we are technologically adept along with good business and education. The growth may be slow, but it is definitely changing things. The First Nations community is exploding and our immigration system is doing great. But where will Canada be 50 years from now?
Current Situations
Demographics
The Canadian population is currently hovering around 35 million, but it has been growing steadily at a slow pace of about 1 million people every three years, with most of this growth based off of immigrants. In fact, every year, Canada adds an extra 1% of their population in immigrants. The reason for this steady essential non-growth, is very good education for woman, long life expectancy, family planning, and just in general, people want and need less kids here. Now even though we have few births with the average women having 1.6 babies and a birth rate of 10.29/1000people, our low death rate (8.31/1000people) balances it out so our population doesn't decrease. All this means Canada's population is staying steady, but growing off our immigrants.
Immigration
To immigrate to Canada currently, the point system checks to see how successful one would be coming to this new country based on various aspects of their lifestyles. There are currently three types of immigrants coming to Canada: Economic, Family, and Refugee. Economic immigrants come to Canada to study or work, improving the economy. Family immigrants come to stay with their family, who are usually supporting the economy, and refugees are fleeing their former country out of fear from something, usually war or violence. The amount of immigrants changes based on jobs available, economy, available aids and more. Currently, the average yearly is about 250,000 new immigrants. 2/3 or 82,500 of these are economic immigrants, 10's of 1,000's being family immigrants, and about 11,000 refugees every year, however this depends on how many refugees need asylum worldwide. The main countries we get our immigrants from include India, China, and the Philippines on top. At the moment, the most popular provinces to immigrate to include British Colombia, Quebec, and Ontario, as there is much multiculturalism, business, and opportunities available there. These are some of the things currently going on with Canada's immigration program.
Canadian Permenant Residents
Expressed as a percent of the population
Permenant Residents by Category
Dark red: Refugee class
Yellow: Business class
Blue: Family class
Yellow: Business class
Blue: Family class
Canadian Permenant Residents
Expressed as a number
First Nations
For a while now, the Indians of our nation have been fighting for what is rightly theirs, and a short period of time ago, this culture was at a devastatingly low population. Currently however, the First Nations community of Canada is growing at a blistering pace, and First Nations people are switching from small, isolated towns, to the larger, urban cities. This is improving the economy by there being more skilled workers, however, it is saddening for the Indian culture as their people are moving to a different area away from them, and losing what shouldn't be lost. One of the goals of current First Nations leaders and representatives is to make their towns more advanced and modern, without forgetting their past. This would help First Nations people who want more than a small town life with achieving their goals without abandoning their people.
Population Characteristics in 2060
Demographics
Canada currently is growing through type 4 population growth. This means that natural increase and overall population are actually going down. Immigrants are keeping our nation's population advancing, but things such as birth rate would likely stay steady or even go down as the baby boomers die off. This would also temporarily increase the death rate, but I think that death rate will go down as technology advances and health care gets better. This would mean an increase in natural increase rate, because birth rate would stay constant and death rate will go down. Eventually however, births and deaths would balance again as people have less and less kids, and therefore it is assumed that natural increase will eventually decrease (but stay positive). In terms of ages, the population pyramid would only morph to have an overall greater number of people, and more people living longer. Overall, it has been projected by statistics Canada that Canada will have a total population of about 43 million in the year 2060. However, Canada's population relies heavily on our immigration program. Trends in immigration and how that will change in 2060 are highlighted below.
Possible Population Trends in 2060
Black line: Current and past
Green line: Low growth
Blue line: Medium growth
Red line: High growth
Green line: Low growth
Blue line: Medium growth
Red line: High growth
Possible Population Pyramids in 2060
Blue fill: Current
Green outline: Low growth
Blue outline: Medium growth
Red outline: High growth
Green outline: Low growth
Blue outline: Medium growth
Red outline: High growth
Possible Growth in 2060
Blue fill: Net migration rate
Green fill: Natural increase rate
Green fill: Natural increase rate
Hans Rosling: Religions and babies
Immigration in 2060
Pull Factors and Province of Settlement
Canada obviously is one of the greatest countries in the world to live in, and it can only get better. Right now we enjoy free healthcare and education, a low unemployment rate of 6.6%, relatively good pay, a high standard of living, nice climate, very safe communities, and generally a polite and fair population. In fact, Canada has the 8th highest Human Development Index in the world, making it the 8th best country to live in. It's no wonder people would want to live here. Another great thing about Canada, is how peaceful it is in terms of wars and conflicts, making it a great place for refugees to go if they need to escape war. However, the number of refugees will in my opinion be going down (reasons are outlined below in "Country of Origin..."). In the future, with our economy growing stronger, and our country getting larger, Canada will likely stay just as if not more popular than it is today with immigrants. In terms of province of settlement, it has been shown that each province has been getting a fairer share of the immigrants, rather than just Ontario and Quebec housing essentially all our immigrants. With technology and business getting better all over Canada, all provinces are desirable for different reasons, and all provinces need different kinds of immigrants. Therefore, I think immigrants will begin to spread out more evenly across the southern provinces (i.e. BC, AB, MT, SK, ON, QC) with the Maritime provinces getting slightly more attention (i.e. NL, NB, PEI, NS) and finally the northern territories will stay ignored and less popular with immigrants (i.e. YK, NWT, NU).
Country of Origin and Push Factors
At the moment, the majority of Canada's immigrants come from Asian countries like India, China, and the Philippines. However, areas of emigration are constantly changing. As these countries themselves get larger and more advanced there will be less reasons to emigrate and more reasons to stay where they are. I think that by 2060 the current countries that we get the majority of our immigrants from will have progressed enough to not have the insane growth rates they currently have, and, because of the large number of technical workers from those areas, the growing field of technology in their countries will house more opportunities for more people. Of course there still will be people coming here to study and work, but I believe it will be less. I think that the countries that will have more migration to Canada will be the current third world countries, primarily in areas such as Africa. This is because as the world gets more and more peaceful, and war becomes a thing of the past (see video below), African countries around or currently in civil conflicts will have more of a chance to get better education along with more equality in terms of income and opportunities. This would mean that as their people advance, their country may not keep up, much like what happened in China. Therefore, countries from the third world will begin to have the money and credentials to emigrate away and immigrate to Canada. The push factors for them will be not enough jobs, too much competition on the market, an education level too low and more. These are the reasons we will have less immigrants from India, China and the Philippines and more from countries in Africa in 2060.
Is War Over? — A Paradox Explained
First Nations Communities
As previously mentioned, the FNMI people are advancing towards a brighter tomorrow in terms of their potential population. A greater number of people from this culture will hopefully help revive it and bring it back as a known and respected religion around the world. At this rate, a large percentage of Canada will be First Nations, as they are the fastest growing demography in our nation, however for them to become a dominant community, a coupe things need to play out just right. This would include more industrialization in aboriginal communities. Many Indians are leaving their birth places for a more urban feel, which hopefully these settlements can get. With greater numbers of people, more skilled workers will potentially be needed. Another important factor will be for the general public to know and understand this reborn religion. With respect and support, the FNMI will thrive and prosper. Of course, there will be many more things going on with this group of people, however the biggest aspect will likely be growth, pushed by larger communities, better education from advanced industrialization, and most of all, a backing from the rest of us Canadians.
My Life in 2060
Canada in 2060
Conclusion
To sum it all up, Canada, which is already one of the greatest countries in the world, is only getting better. Our steady but growing population is a great sign, and along with our future options in immigration from Africa and other third world areas and the flourishing Aboriginals in our nation on and off reserve, we're only going up.