Financial planning for aging population neglected by provinces, Manning Centre says

None of the provincial governments appear to be doing much financial planning for the coming "grey tsunami" of aging Canadians, a Calgary think-tank says.

The Manning Centre uses the term to describe the demographic shift that will see an increasingly lopsided population pyramid with retired Baby Boomers at the top.

• More Canadians are 65 and over than under age 15, StatsCan says

"Statistics Canada noted on September 29, 2016 that, for the first time in our nation's history, there are more citizens 65 years of age and older, than those 15 years of age and under," said the Manning Centre report, which was prepared by strategic communications director Colin Craig.

"Governments cannot afford to ignore the financial difficulties presented by this shift in demographics."

The think-tank filed access to information requests to every provincial and territorial government seeking documentation of reports or analysis on the fiscal implications of the decrease of working age Canadians relative to retirees.

"The findings were troubling. No province was able to provide analysis as to how their own findings will be impacted over 10, 20 or 30-year time frames," the report said.

"Provincial governments appear to be ill-prepared for our nation's aging population."

Federal government doing more planning

Ottawa by contrast has been publishing fiscal sustainability reports on the subject since 2010, the Manning Centre says.

The report recommends that every provincial government conduct regular projections of their finances over 10, 20 and 30-year periods.

Doing so should result in a wake-up call for the need to restrain spending and find efficiencies in government, the report says.

Rising health care costs areseen as the biggest challenge.

"Simply put, senior citizens tend to require more costly health procedures such as hip surgery, open-heart surgery and nursing home stays. Younger Canadians, on average, require less expensive procedures such as annual check-ups," the report said.

Read the report here.