To be fair, the president and CEO of the Conference Board of Canada,  Anne Golden, did not quite say that but you might read that message into the way the Conference Board  findings were presented at an economic conference in Vancouver.  The headline reads: Aging population to lower B.C.’s economic performance: Conference Board.

B.C.’s population is expected to age significantly over the next 20 years. The share of the population aged 65 and over was 14 per cent last year and it is going to grow to be 25 per cent of this province by 2030.  As B.C.’s population ages, economic growth in the province is expected to slow significantly.

B.C. will have one of the oldest populations in the country. As a result, there will be a consistent slowing in labour force growth [and] this, in turn, will steadily lower B.C.’s economic performance.  It is predicted that the province will face a labour shortage of 160,000 workers by the year 2015.

The fallacy in what is being said is that it is very arbitrary to assume that someone over 65 is automatically different from someone who is say 60.  With a healthier  population living longer, seniors will continue to be productive and the challenge is to make sure that this contributes to the provincial economic performance.

The other suggestions from the Conference Board are useful but they should not just write off all those seniors and assume they are a burden.  They can indeed be productive longer and that must be facilitated.  Such changing work habits must be factored into the way findings like this are presented.

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