Aging population behind growing number of registered deaths

Canwest News Service

Published: Monday, January 14, 2008

OTTAWA - The number of deaths registered in Canada recorded its fastest increase in three years, according to Statistics Canada.

A total of 230,132 people died in Canada in 2005, up 1.6 per cent from the previous year.

The agency says the trend reflects a growing and aging population, although age-specific mortality rates between 2004 and 2005 declined in older age groups, offsetting increases among younger age groups.

The figures also show the gap in the number of deaths continues to narrow between men and women, while the average age at death continued to rise from 1990 to 2005.

Men lived an average of 3.5 years longer, while women lived an average of 3.2 years longer. In 2005, most people lived to an average age of 74 years.

Men lived to an average age of 71, while women lived more than six years longer to about 77 years.

On average, men died at a younger age in all provinces and territories, with the exception of Nunavut.

In Nunavut, the average age at death was 47 – the lowest in Canada – while Prince Edward Island posted the highest average age at death of about 75 years old.

Statistics Canada says the infant mortality rate also rose slightly from 5.3 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2004 to 5.4 in 2005.

The countries with the lowest infant mortality rate are Sweden and Japan.

© Canwest News Service 2008

BIOLOGY VERSUS SOCIOLOGY QUESTIONS

1) WHAT ARE THE SOCIAL AND DEMOGRAPHIC IMPLICATIONS OF … “A TOTAL OF 230,132 PEOPLE DIED IN CANADA IN 2005, UP 1.6 PER CENT FROM THE PREVIOUS YEAR”?

2) WHY DO YOU THINK THE “DEATH GAP” IS CLOSING BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN?

3) WHAT IS THE CAUSE OF THE DRAMATIC DIFFERENCE IN THE DEATH RATE BETWEEN NUNAVUT (47) AND THE REST OF CANADA (74).

4) WHAT DOES THIS TELL US ABOUT “PATTERNS OF POWER AND INEQUALITY” IN SOCIETY? DOES THIS TELL US ANYTHING ABOUT DEGREES OF MARGINALIZATION (LIVING IN THE INTERSTICES OF A DOMINANT WHITE HEGEMONY?)