Unlike a lot of countries that are facing an increase in birth rate, Canada is struggling with a significant decline. Its ongoing birth crisis has recently hit a new low in its history of low birth rates.

While many countries are battling overpopulation and an increasing birth rate, Canada is facing a huge decline. Over the years, there has been a significant decrease in birthing for several reasons. People are having fewer children, and the country may have just set a new birth rate record thanks to the continued decline. So, why are fewer people giving birth in Canada?

Canada has seen its lowest level of fertility rate ever since Statistics Canada started collecting data over 100 years ago. In 2021, the birth rate in the country was 1.43 per woman. However, new data shows that it has dropped to 1.33 children per woman in 2022. This is quite low and a cause for concern in the country.

Statistics Canada also monitored the data of birth rates throughout all the parts of the country. The results showed that all provinces and territories saw this downward trend in annual birth rates. However, they had a few exceptions. Quebec and Nova Scotia did not record any new lower levels of fertility in their territories. The data provided did not explain why these territories were exempt.

For more than a decade, Canada has been seeing a huge decline in its birth rates. People are either choosing not to have children or to have only a few offsprings. With time, this is turning out to be a significant problem.
While there is no definite reason for this change, some analysts believe societal and economic worries are the major reasons.

According to some researchers, the COVID-19 pandemic played a major role in this change. Some even say that the country is going through a “fertility ‘pandemic rollercoaster.”
The report states that “Given the COVID-19 pandemic initiated a period of public health crisis, as well as economic and societal shocks, it is possible that a segment of the population responded to this period of widespread uncertainty via their childbearing choices.”

Another reason why researchers believe the pandemic played a major role in this case is because the economy changed a lot during that time. Therefore, people will rather have children when they are much older and can afford any unexpected occurrences.
Now, many people choose to have children in their 30s or 40s, unlike the older generation, which had theirs in their 20s.

Economic worries have also caused a huge decline in birth rates according to researchers. Things like inflation and high housing costs discourage people from having children. Nowadays, people ask themselves if they can afford to have children and how many they can comfortably take care of with the increase in cost of living. If they cannot afford it, they simply wouldn’t have any children.

Many other G7 countries are facing the same birth crisis that Canada is struggling with. However, the United States of America is exempt.
Canada has recorded the highest drop, but the other countries are steadily falling as well. For example, France recorded a significant drop in annual birth rates and its president increased paternal leave as a way of boosting fertility.

Many European countries are also suffering from a shortage in births. For the past few years, a lot of countries have been recording lower birth rates consecutively. According to some surveys, some Europeans have a lot of anxiety over ongoing wars such as the Russia-Ukraine war. Therefore, they are too scared or worried to have kids and settle as a family.

In Asia, South Korea recorded the largest decline in birth rates. This was a staggering 15.3%. According to studies, the fertility rate in South Korea is 0.7 children per woman. If this trend continues, the country will see about a 30% drop in its population in the next 50 years. Analysts predict that this might be worse as the birth rate is expected to keep dropping in the coming years.

Canada Still Has a Growing Population
Although Canada is facing a decreased birth rate, the country’s population is still growing. How is this possible? Canada relies heavily on immigration. In 2023, its population officially surpassed 40 million. Therefore, it is clear that even though Canadians are choosing not to have children, the country will continue to grow with immigrants.

As Canada’s immigration levels have surged greatly over the past few years, this can help the country a lot. However, there could be a huge disadvantage to this. Researchers are already noticing a housing crisis due to this high influx. The nation’s healthcare and native population might also be affected in the coming years if the immigration levels continue to rise.