Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal populations by age group, as a proportion of their total populations, Canada, 2006

Adapted from Statistics Canada, at http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2006/dp-pd/tbt/Rp-eng.cfm?LANG=E&APATH=3&DETAIL=0&DIM=0&FL=A&FREE=0&GC=0&GID=0&GK=0&GRP=1&PID=89122&PRID=0&PTYPE=88971,97154&S=0&SHOWALL=0&SUB=731&Temporal=2006&THEME=73&VID=0&VNAMEE=&VNAMEF= accessed on July 8, 2011

Aboriginal communities in Canada are young communities. Thirty percent of the Aboriginal population in Canada is under 15 years of age, a further 18% are between 15 and 24 years.

Implications

According to population projections released by Statistics Canada in 2005, Aboriginal people could account for a growing share of the young adult population over the next decade. By 2017, Aboriginal people aged 20 to 29 could make up 30% of those in their 20s in Saskatchewan, 24% in Manitoba, 40% in the Yukon Territory and 58% in the Northwest Territories. Already, more than 80% of Nunavut’s population aged 20 to 29 is Aboriginal, and the proportion is expected to grow¹. Seniors represent a smaller proportion of the Aboriginal population than the non-Aboriginal population – this is due in part to higher mortality rates and reduced life expectancy in the Aboriginal population.

¹Statistics Canada. 2006 Census: Aboriginal Peoples in Canada in 2006: Inuit, Métis and First Nations, 2006 Census http://www12.statcan.ca/census-recensement/2006/as-sa/97-558/p4-eng.cfm