This Is How Much Canada Spends On Seniors vs. Everyone Else

Canada’s governments spend way more on seniors than they do on everyone else, according to a new report by Generation Squeeze, “a national campaign to build a Canada that works for all generations.”

While it likely won't surprise many that governments spend more on seniors than others, the study’s author, Dr. Paul Kershaw, an associate professor at UBC’s School of Population and Public Health, points out that social spending on seniors is four times as much per capita as social spending on those under 44.

A premiers’ task force on aging last year forecast that the number of Canadians over the age of 65 will double in the next 25 years.

The Generation Squeeze report asks two questions: How to sustain spending on retirees as their numbers swell, and whether the government spends enough on younger Canadians.

These should be core questions "not only in the discussion of how to preserve public policies that have dramatically reduced economic and health insecurity for seniors today compared to the past,” the report said, “but also to find funds to reduce the squeeze on younger generations who now face lower earnings, higher housing costs, and a deteriorating environment compared to a generation ago.”

Here’s a breakdown of total social spending by recipients’ age group.


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