Understanding the Impact of Immigration on Demography: A Canadian Case Study

Canada, like many other high-income countries, is facing a stark demographic transition as its fertility rate drops and its population ages. This transition points to challenges on the horizon for these societies as they navigate the prospect of a shrinking workforce and the need to support a growing retired population with diminishing tax revenues.

Immigration is one tool that Canada and other countries have used to help counteract these trends. In fact, the growth of the Canadian labor force in recent years has been driven entirely by the admission of temporary and permanent immigrants. Yet high rates of immigration have also caused public opinion to sour on immigration, with many Canadians citing concerns about its impacts on housing costs and public services.

This Transatlantic Council on Migration report takes Canada as a case study to explore the questions: How effective is immigration in alleviating the challenges of low fertility and population aging? And what are the costs associated with different policy approaches, in terms of population growth and attendant infrastructural needs? To do so, the study analyzes special projections of the Canadian population commissioned from Statistics Canada.