Grade 9 Academic Geography – Strand 3
Population Demographics
Why study population changes?
Canada’s population growth has moved from a path of high birth and death rates
to one characterized by low birth and death rates. This means Canada’s
population is getting older.
Some facts
 One in ten persons are now 60+ years old.
 The older population itself is ageing. The oldest old (80+ years) is the
fastest growing segment of the older population. They currently make up
11% of the 60+ age group and will grow to 19% by 2050.
 55% of older persons are women.
 In the last 50 years, average life expectancy increased by 20 years.
 Dependency Ratio (i.e., the percentage of a country’s population who are
under the age of 15 and over 65 that must be supported by the
independent, working population) is increasing.
How will Canada sustain its social and economic structures as the population
ages?
What is population demographics?
 Demographics is the study of populations. Population demographics is the
study of a population’s age, sex, health, resource use, movement(s),
income, spending, social organization, employment, education, etc.
 When studying population demographics, two inputs must be considered:
(1) natural increase (i.e., birth – death) and migration (immigration –
emigration).
 Population demographics can be used to measure and contrast the wellbeing of a population.
Birth Rate
Definitions
Number of births in a country for every thousand people in the
population. If 150,000 children are born in one year in a country
with a population of 5,000,000, the birth rate is 150,000 /
5,000,000 X 1000 = 30. A Birth Rate over 30 is high, while less
than 15 is low. Canada’s Birth Rate is about 11.4 per thousand
Death Rate
Number of deaths in a country for every thousand people in the
population
Immigration
Rate
Number of people who permanently move to a country
Emigration
Rate
Number of people who permanently leave a country. For
example, 10,000 people leave from the 5,000,000. The
Emigration Rate would be 2.0 per every thousand.
Natural
Increase
Rate
Difference between Birth Rate and Death Rate. If Birth Rate is
30/1000 and Death Rate is 20/1000, the Natural Increase Rate is
(30-20)/1000= 10/1000 (or 0.01%).
Net
Migration
Rate
Difference between the Immigration Rate and the Emigration
Rate
The rate at which a country’s population is changing. It combines
Natural Increase Rate plus Net Migration Rate. Canada’s rate is
about 0.9%.
Total
Average number of children that each woman will have in her
Fertility Rate fertile years…assuming no change in the Birth Rate. Fertile years
(TFR)
are assumed to be between 15 and 45 years. A high Fertility Rate
is >5, while a low rate <2.1 …Canada’s Fertility Rate is about 1.7.
Population
Growth Rate
Replacement TFR that would produce a Natural Increase Rate of zero. In other
Rate
words, a country’s population does not change (…ignoring
immigration). The Replacement Rate to achieve zero is 2.1.
Dependency
Load
Percentage of a country’s population who are under the age of 15
and over 65 that must be supported by the independent, working
population. A high dependency load stresses a country’s
economy. In 2000, 19% of Canadians were younger than 15 and
13% were over 65.
Rule of 70
How long it takes a country’s population to double. The formula
is 70 divided by the country’s Population Growth Rate. If
Canada’s Population Growth Rate continues at 0.9%, Canada’s
population will double in about 78 years (70/0.9 = 78)