Posthaste: Golden years disappearing as Canadian seniors in the workforce hit all-time high
Canadians’ retirement years are dwindling as a record number of seniors stay in t he workforce , many by choice, but a growing number from necessity.
The labour force participation rate of Canadians aged 65 and older rose to 15.2 per cent in 2025, the highest since Statistics Canada began tracking t he data in 1976.
That is almost 1.2 million seniors who were either employed or looking for work in 2025 — more than five per cent of the total workforce.
And thousands of them have more than one job. StatsCan said 43,500 workers aged 65 years and older worked multiple jobs last year.
Canada’s senior population has swelled in recent years as the last of that huge cohort, the baby boomers, move into their sixth decade. Almost 20 per cent of Canadians were 65 and older in 2025, a share that is expected to rise close to a quarter of the population in the 2030s.
But their rise in the workforce isn’t just because there are more seniors — a higher proportion of them are working as well, said StatsCan.
This wasn’t always the case. Twenty-six years ago just six per cent of seniors participated in the workforce. That rate has grown steadily since, rising to 14.9 per cent in 2019. After a sharp dip during COVID-19, the rate now exceeds pre-pandemic levels.
Canada’s average retirement age has changed as well. The average declined steadily from 64.6 years in 1976 to an all-time low of 60.9 years in 1997. But then the trend reversed.
Last year it hit a record high of 65.4 years. That average is lower for public sector workers at 62.6, but higher for those in the private sector at 66 years. The self-employed work on average until 68.4 years.
So why are more Canadian seniors continuing to work? For some it is a choice, but for a growing number of others — almost half — it is necessity, says Statistics Canada.
More than 600,000 Canadian seniors live under the poverty line, and according to a report by the Montreal Economic Institute, Ottawa isn’t making it easy for them to work.
Seniors with no income beyond Old Age Security qualify for the maximum Guaranteed Income Supplement of just over $13,000 a year. But if they take a job, every dollar earned after the first $5,000 reduces the GIS benefit by 50 cents, said the report.
Employment among GIS recipients jumped by 56 per cent between 2014 and 2022.
“A growing number of seniors are working to make ends meet; the very least Ottawa could do is not punish them for doing so,” says Jason Dean, associate researcher at the MEI and author of the report.
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Asian economies are heading for a “fertility shock” as birth rates shift from historically high to below replacement levels, said Bank of America researchers.
The region’s total fertility rate dropped from about 6 births per woman in the 1960s to 1.87 by 2025, which is below the replacement level of 2.1.
Japan and Korea are aging the fastest, as both countries fell below replacement fertility in the 1970s and ’80s. China and Thailand are next in line, but India is younger and did not drop below replacement until 2020.
The World Bank expects the decline to continue across Asia, with India’s fertility rate falling to 1.8 in 2030 and Singapore and China reaching 1.0.
An aging population drags on economic growth and the International Monetary Fund estimates that demographic headwinds alone will reduce global GDP growth by about 1.1 percentage points by mid-century, even with pro‑birth policy interventions, said BofA.
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Caroline, 62, is single and planning for retirement in three years, but she is still paying down a $300,000 mortgage. Should she wait until she is 70 to take Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security or even delay retirement? Family Finance gives her some help with the numbers.
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Today’s Posthaste was written by Pamela Heaven with additional reporting from Financial Post staff, The Canadian Press and Bloomberg.
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