Millennials overtake baby boomers as dominant generation in Canada
Millennials are now the dominant generation in the country, Statistics Canada says.
The federal statistics agency said Wednesday that millennials, born between 1981 and 1996, surpassed the baby boomer generation on July 1, 2023.
Baby boomers, born between 1946 and 1965, became the dominant generation in 1958, seven years before the last baby boomer was even born, Statistics Canada said.
“For 65 years, they remained the largest generation in the Canadian population. From the mid-1960s to the early 1970s, baby boomers accounted for around 40 per cent of the population,” the agency said in a report.
“By comparison, millennials’ demographic weight will never reach the level of baby boomers’ and is expected to peak at its current level of 23 per cent, according to the most recent population projections.”
While aging is a factor in the decline of baby boomers, millennials’ rise in the ranks is largely due to the recent arrival of a record number of permanent and temporary immigrants, Statistics Canada said.
From July 1, 2022, to July 1, 2023, the millennial population increased by 457,354, exclusively due to the arrival of permanent and temporary immigrants. This increase exceeds the annual growth of the young Generation Alpha (+454,133) — the members of which have been born since 2013. That generation’s rise is largely driven by birth.
Millennials aside, Generation Z, born between 1997 and 2012, has become the third-largest generation in Canada, surpassing Generation X, born between 1966 and 1980.
“Notably, Generation X, whose members were born during a period of sharply declining fertility, will never have been the largest generation in Canada,” Statistics Canada said.
“According to the latest population projections,
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