The population is aging more quickly in the Eastern provinces

Between 1971 and 2011, like Canada as a whole, all of the country’s provinces and territories experienced an increase in their proportion of seniors. However, population aging does not affect all regions of the country in the same way. The proportion of seniors grew more quickly in the Atlantic provinces and Quebec than in the other provinces and territories.
In 1971, the proportion of seniors exceeded the national average in all the Western provinces except Alberta. In the decades that followed, the pattern reversed; in 2011, the largest proportions of seniors are currently found in the Atlantic provinces, Quebec and British Columbia.
In 2011—and continuing to 2013—Alberta and the territories have the lowest proportions of seniors, which is due to higher fertility levels, lower life expectancy in the territories, as well as the effect of interprovincial migration in Alberta.
As of July 1, 2013, the proportion of persons aged 65 and over ranged from 3.5% in Nunavut to 17.7% in Nova Scotia.

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