Introduction

[Para. 1]: "Our world is growing older. As birth rates continue to drop, and younger residents and recent immigrants congregate in a small number of global cities, the demographic geography of Western nations has become increasing uneven (Townshend and Walker, 2015). While it is important to celebrate the fact that people are living longer and healthier, such changes in population also challenge the viability of economic and healthcare systems (Nefs et al, 2013). Canada’s demographic shift is particularly significant as Canada is home to the world’s largest proportion of ‘baby boomers’ – those born between 1947 and 1966 (Foot, 1999). As the baby boomers reach and pass retirement age, Canada’s population pyramid will become increasingly top-heavy. The shift is already well underway. As of 2015, Canadians aged 65 years and older have outnumbered children aged 0 to 14 years (Statistics Canada, 2015)."