Canada

Starting back 60 years ago Canada recognized that their population was aging and they were not producing enough young people. This was similar to what was happening in many European countries in addition to China and Japan. Birthrates in Canada have declined from 1.8 in 1980 to 1.2 in 2024. In response to this Canada opened up to immigration on a large scale starting about 20 years ago. They used a merit-based system, which meant that the immigrants were better educated than the natives and bringing in about 500,000 per year to a country with a population of only 40 million, about one third of which, are retired led to problems. The new immigrants slowly, using their education, increased their income to the point where they started driving up the cost of housing to the point where the natives could no longer afford the dream of home ownership. In recent years the country has embarked on an immigration plan to lower the numbers to offset the rising prices. This puts them back in the same position of not having enough young workers to support the retirees. In the US many low skilled, young poor people came to the country and are holding up the younger population but that is not the case in Canada. Transportation into Canada means significant cost and most immigrants are in their late 30’s and early 40’s. Canada is facing significant demographic challenges, primarily an aging population and falling birth rates, leading to a heavy reliance on immigration for growth, but recent policy shifts reducing immigration have caused the first population decline in decades, signaling major economic impacts on labor, housing, and future growth. The country's fertility rate is well below replacement levels (1.25 children per woman), while the proportion of older citizens is rising, creating pressures on resources and the workforce.