Canada’s youngest population, lowest life expectancy in Nunavut: Statistics Canada

New statistics show that Canadians are living longer lives, with those born between 2006 and 2008 reaching a life expectancy of 80.9 years.

But that doesn’t hold true in the North: the lowest life expectancy at birth was recorded in the three territories combined where, at birth, life expectancy sat at 75.2 years.

Data released by Statistics Canada Sept. 28 showed Canadians living in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec are living longer lives compared to the national average with B.C. residents hitting the highest life expectancy at 81.4 years.

Population growth varied across the country.

In 2010 to 2011, the western provinces as well as Prince Edward Island and Nunavut all had growth rates above or equal to the national average.

On July 1, Canada’s population was estimated at 34,482,800, up 356,600, or one per cent, from the same date in 2010.

Nunavut’s population accounted for 33,322 of that total, up from about 31,300 in 2007.

As of July 1, the youngest population in Canada was also to be found in Nunavut, where the median age (that is, the age at which half of the population is older and half is younger) stood at 24.8 years, much lower than the Canadian median age of 39.9 years.

Almost a third — 31.5 per cent — of the Nunavut population was under the age of 15, the highest proportion in the country,

with files from Postmedia News