According to new Statistics Canada data, the country witnessed a record-low fertility rate last year.
The low fertility rate is the prime reason behind Canada’s Immigration Levels Plan 2021-2023 announcement on Friday. The plan states that the country will aim at more than 400,000 newcomers every year.
In 2019, the total fertility rate was 1.47 birth per woman. This data is over the course of the reproductive life of a woman. Populations require a minimum birth rate of 2.1 births per woman.
Canada has failed to meet this threshold since 1971. This means that the total number of new-born babies is not sufficient to replace the current population.
Last year, there were 372,038 live births in Canada. This data excludes the birth numbers in Yukon. The percentage of baby boys was marginally higher at around 51.3%. This is rather consistent with those of previous years.
The summer of 2021 will prove whether the recent pandemic was the main reason for the baby slump in the country. In the months of July and August, birth rates in Canada are the highest.
Immigration Responsible For Almost 78% To 79% Population Growth Last Year
Looking at the period from July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2019, the popularity increased in a natural manner by 85,246. After adding newcomers, and subtracting emigrants, the population increase due to migration came to 301,974.
The total population growth after adding the above numbers came to 387,220.
During this period, 78% of the population growth was due to immigration. In the period from July 1, 2019, to June 30, 2020, 79% of the population growth was due to immigration.
Canada will fail to grow its population without immigration. This will also weaken the labor force due to fewer workers. 9 million baby boomers in Canada will reach retirement age in the next 10 years.
According to the Conference Board of Canada, the national population growth by 2034 will consist of 100% immigrants. During the early part of this year, 82% of Canada’s population growth was of immigrants.
The federal government’s Immigration Levels Plan 2021-2023 announcement had a quote about this research.
First-Time Mothers’ Age Increases
Last year, the average age of first-time mothers was 29.4 years. In 1959, the average age of first-time mothers was 23.2 years. This means that the average age has increased by 6 years.
This trend is also seen in different other countries, like the United States of America. This coincides with the increased number of women in the labor force between the ages 25 and 54, along with an increase in the number of university-educated women.
There was an increase in the percentage of women in the workforce between the years 1950 and 2019. According to data by the Labour Force Survey, this number increased from 22% to 84%.
The proportion of women with a university degree almost tripled from 14% in 1990 to 40% in 2019.
Over a period of 60 years, there has been a change in the distribution of birth by the age of the mother. Women’s fertility rates under 25 years have gone down.
In 1959, women between 20 and 24 years had a great possibility of conceiving. According to data, it was 2338 births per 1000 women. By 2019, the women’s fertility rate fell to 31.8 births per 1000 women.
In 1959, 45% of the women in the age group of 20 to 24 gave birth for the first time. This number went down to 14% in 2019.
In 2019, women between the age of 30 and 34 had a big possibility of conceiving as compared to women of any other age group. Women in this age group also represented the biggest percentage of first-time mothers.
Older Mothers Have a Big Possibility of Conceiving Twins or Triplets
There is a huge chance of aged first-time mothers to bear twins or triplets as compared to younger women. In 2019, 4.3% of first-time mothers had multiple births and were of the minimum age of 40 years. This is in comparison with less than 1.6% of first-timers under 40 years.
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