Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-xtgtn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T16:53:24.156Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Interprovincial Migration of Canada's Elderly: 1956–61 and 1971–76

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2010

Herbert C. Northcott
Herbert C. Northcott
Affiliation:
University of Alberta
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study examines interprovincial migration patterns of elderly and nonelderly Canadians during 1956–61 and 1971–76. The focus of the paper is on the relationships between net migration patterns and changes in the concentration of elderly persons in provincial populations. The data show that elderly and nonelderly net migration patterns are very similar; that is, provinces that attract elderly also tend to attract nonelderly while provinces that lose elderly also tend to lose nonelderly. As a consequence, the impact of elderly migration on the aging of provincial populations is offset by nonelderly migration. Nevertheless, migration patterns do contribute in two ways to the relative concentration of elderly persons in provincial populations. First, elderly net in-migration after eliminating the counterbalancing effects of nonelderly in-migration does contribute modestly to population aging in 1971–76 though not in 1956–61. Second, nonelderly net out-migration contributes to the aging of a province's population in that the out-flow of younger persons increases the relative concentration of the elderly in the remaining population.

Résumé

Le présent article porte sur la structure des migrations chez les canadiens âgés et jeunes au cours des périodes 1956–1961 et 1971–1976, et plus particulièrement sur le rapport entre le résultat net des échanges d'une part, et l'effet de ces échanges sur la concentration des gens âgés au sein des populations provinciales d'autre part. Les données révèlent que les courants migratoires sont comparables dans les deux couches d'âge, autrement dit, les provinces qui attirent les personnes âgées attirent également les personnes jeunes, tandis que celles qui perdent des personnes âgées laissent également partir des personnes jeunes. Par suite, l'effet des migrations de gens âgés sur le vieillissement des populations provinciales se trouve compensé par les mouvements de populations jeunes. Ces mouvements migratoires ont cependant un effet sur la concentration des personnes âgées au sein des populations provinciales. Premièrement, le résultat net de l'immigration âgée, compte tenu de l'immigration jeune, entraine une modeste augmentation du vieillissement au cours de la période 1971–1976 (mais non pour la période 1951–1956). En second lieu, l'émmigration jeune contribue également à faire augmenter la concentration des personnes âgées parmi la population restante dans une province donnée.

Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 3 , Issue 1 , March 1984 , pp. 3 - 22
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 1984

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Auerbach, L. & Gerber, A. (1976). Implications of the changing age structure of the Canadian population. Ottawa: Ministry of Supply and Services.Google Scholar
Chevan, A. & Fischer, L. R. (1979). Retirement and interstate migration. Social Forces, 57, 1365–1380.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Courchene, T. J. (1970). Interprovincial migration and economic adjustment. Canadian Journal of Economics, 3, 550–576.Google Scholar
Dominion Bureau of Statistics (1965). Canada Year Book 1965. Ottawa: Queen's Printer.Google Scholar
George, M. V. (1970). Internal migration in Canada: Demographic analyses. Ottawa: Queen's Printer.Google Scholar
Longino., C. F. & Biggar, J. C. (1981). The impact of retirement migration on the South. The Gerontologist, 21, 283–290.Google Scholar
Lycan, R. (1969). Interprovincial migration in Canada: The role of spatial and economic factors. Canadian Geographer, 13, 237–254.Google Scholar
McInnis, M. (1971). Age, education and occupation differentials in interregional migration: Some evidence for Canada. Demography, 8, 195–204.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Murphy, P. A. (1979). Migration of the elderly: A review. Town Planning Review, 50, 84–93.Google Scholar
Nie, N. H., Hull, C. H., Jenkins, J. G., Steinbrenner, K. & Bent, D. H. (1970). Statistical package for the social sciences, 2nd edition. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Norland, J. A. (Statistics Canada) (1974). The age-sex structure of Canada's population. Bull. 5. 1–3, Cat. No. 99–703, The 1971 Census of Canada. Ottawa: Queen's Printer.Google Scholar
Northcott, H. C. (forthcoming). The geographic mobility of Canada's elderly. Canadian Studies in Population.Google Scholar
Rowe, G. & Pong, R. (1978). Interprovincial migration of the elderly. Unpublished paper referenced by N. Shulman in V. W. Marshall (Ed.) Aging in Canada. Don Mills, Ontario: Fitzhenry and Whiteside.Google Scholar
Serow, W. J. (1978). Return migration of the elderly in the USA: 1955–1960 and 1965–1970. Journal of Gerontology, 33, 288–295.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shulman, N. (1980). The aging of urban Canada. In Marshall, V. W. (Ed.), Aging in Canada. Don Mills, Ontario: Fitzhenry and Whiteside.Google Scholar
Shulman, N. & Drass, R. E. (1979). Motives and modes of internal migration: Relocation in a Canadian city. Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology, 16, 333–342.Google Scholar
Statistics Canada (1983). Canada update from the 1981 census. 20 percent data base. Ottawa: Supply and Services Canada.Google Scholar
Statistics Canada (1982). Canada update from the 1981 census. Population trends. Ottawa: Supply and Services Canada.Google Scholar
Statistics Canada (1975). Vital statistics. Volume I—Births. Ottawa: Information Canada.Google Scholar
Stone, L. O. (1979). Occupational composition of Canadian migration. Ottawa: Minister of Supply and Services.Google Scholar
Stone, L. O. (1974). What we know about migration within Canada—A selective review and agenda for future research. International Migration Review, 8, 267–281.Google Scholar
Stone, L. O. (1969). Migration in Canada: Regional aspects. Ottawa: Queen's Printer.Google Scholar
Vanderkamp, J. (1968). Interregional mobility in Canada: A study of the time pattern of migration. Canadian Journal of Economics, I, 595–608.Google Scholar
Winer, S. & Gauthier, D. (1982). Internal migration and fiscal structure: An econometric study of interprovincial migration in Canada. Ottawa: Supply and Services Canada.Google Scholar
Wiseman, R. F. & Roseman, C. C. (1979). A typology of elderly migration based on the decision making process. Economic Geography, 55, 324–337.Google Scholar