In This Activity You Will Be Evaluated on Your Ability To

In This Activity You Will Be Evaluated on Your Ability To

Strand D. Changing Populations

In this activity you will be evaluated on your ability to:

  • Analyse a national and global population issue, as well as their implications for Canada
  • Describe the diversity of Canada’s population, and assess some social, economic, political, and environmental implications of immigration and diversity for Canada
  • Analyse various demographic characteristics of the Canadian population
  • Use the geographic inquiry process and the concepts of geographic thinking when investigating issues relating to Canadian geography

Part A: Changes in Canada’s Population Structure

  • Complete the graphing activity on page 216 of your course textbook using Excel. Make sure you answer all questions on this page (i.e. 1 to 5).

Part B: Population projections: Canada 2013to2063: Identifying Trends & Implications

Read the following population projections adapted from the Statistics Canada website and answer the questions that follow.

According to all projection scenarios, the Canadian population would continue to grow over the next50years, reaching anywhere between40.0million people and63.5million people by2063.

However, the rate of population growth would slow in the coming years according as the contribution of natural increase to population growth in Canada would diminish. Specifically, the number of deaths will increase in the next several decades as a result of population growth and aging.

Net migration increase would remain the key driver of population growth over the next50years, as has been the case since the early1990s.

Population aging would continue in the coming years. Over the next two decades in particular, the proportion of seniors aged65years and over in the population would grow rapidly as the large baby-boom (1946to1965) cohort reaches age65and over. Therefore, by2030, the year in which the youngest baby boomers will reach age65, close to one in four persons in Canada would be aged65years or over (22.2% in the high-growth scenario,22.8% in the medium-growth scenario and23.6% in the low-growth scenario) compared with15.3% in2013.

The number of persons aged65years and over per100persons aged15to64years would also increase, from about22in2013to37in2030according to the medium-growth scenario.

During the same period, the working-age population—persons aged15to64years, most of them being in the labour force—would decrease according to all projection scenarios, from68.6% in2013to about60% in2030. Between2030and2063, this proportion would remain fairly stable.

The number of older seniors would also increase according to all projection scenarios. By2063, the number of Canadians aged80years and over would reach nearly5million according to the medium-growth scenario, compared with1.4million in2013. According to this scenario, the share of older seniors in the total population would increase slightly from2013to2026—from4.1% to5.3%—and would then increase more rapidly between2026and2045, from5.3% to9.6%, as the baby-boom cohorts reach this age group. During this period, the proportion of older seniors among the total senior population aged65years and over would also increase, from26.6% in2013to39.4% in2045.

The number of centenarians in Canada would reach more than62,000persons in2063according to the medium-growth scenario, compared with just under7,000in2013. This nine-fold increase in the number of centenarians over the next50years would be mostly a result of the arrival of baby boomers in this age group beginning in2046, combined with a projected decline in mortality.

Questions

a)What will be the trend for Canada’s population growth rate I the next few decades?

b)Will happen to Canada’s population age structure in the next few decades?

Part C: Collecting Population Data and Assessing Implications of Population Change for Canada

In this activity you willcreate a multiple bar graph in Excel which will show major sources of Canada’s immigration population over a period of time. Once you have completed the graph you will analyse it to answer a series of questions.

Below are the steps to follow to complete the graph. Begin by copying and pasting the Canada Immigration file from the Geography pick-up folder to your home drive.

  1. Open the Canada Immigration Excel file.
  1. Highlight all the information you see by clicking and holding down the mouse in cell A1 and dragging the cursor to cell D60
  1. Click on the Insert tab
  1. Click on the column icon and select the first 2-D icon.
  1. Place your cursor directly over the right edge of the graph over the four grey dots until your cursor changes from four arrows to two arrows. Now slowly stretch the graph to the right until all sixty countries are visible on the horizontal axis (hint: you may have to count to make sure). Then place your cursor over the four grey dots on the bottom and drag down until it is easier to read the graph.
  1. We are now going to add gridlines, as these make the graph easier to analyse. Click on Gridlines, Primary Horizontal Gridlines, Major Minor Gridlines.
  1. Click on Gridlinesagain and select, Primary Vertical Gridlines, Major Gridlines.
  1. Select Axis Titles, Primary Horizontal Axis Title and Title Below Axis. Type Country of Origin into the box that appears (you might have to scroll down to see this).
  2. Press Enter.
  3. Select Axis Titles, Primary Vertical Axis Title and Rotated Title. Type # of Immigrants. Press Enter
  4. The title of the graph will now be created. Select Chart Title and Centred Overlay Title. Type in the box that appears a complete and appropriate title. When you have finished click Close.

Analyze only the graph to answer the following questions:

  1. Identify the two countries which sent the most immigrants to Canada prior to 1991.
  2. Identify the three countries which sent the most immigrants to Canada between1996 and 2001
  3. Identify the three countries which sent the most immigrants to Canada between 2001 and 2006
  4. Which two countries of those identified in the previous three questions experienced greatest decrease in the number immigrants between 1996 and 2006?
  5. Name four countries of origin which increased their immigrant population by at least 20 000 peoplefrom the period 1996 to 2001, and the period 2001 to 2006