That Statistics Canada Report may give the federal government budgeting problems but as usual, change always brings opportunities. This is particularly true if you consider the new business opportunities that this change in demographics spawns.

Seniors now are healthier and appreciate their independence. That creates a demand for housing in which they can live safely and in comfort. Many of them are active in sports and volunteer activities and this again can create new opportunities for products and services they may require.

Without being too macabre, there was a sting in the tail of that report about the Statistics Canada findings.

In 2007, 235,217 people died in Canada, up 3.1 per cent from 2006. That’s the largest increase since 1993, but it continues a long upward trend that results from a growing and aging population.

“The aging of the Canadian population is the main contributor to the increasing trend in the number of deaths,” the report’s authors write. “From 1982 to 2007, the proportion of people aged 65 and older increased by 38.5 per cent.”

That suggests a bullish trend in the casket industry. That may well put a smile on those lugubrious faces we are so accustomed to seeing in funeral homes. Perhaps we should not have been surprised to see that other announcement that Wal-Mart is now selling caskets.

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