Population Aging and Work Life Duration in Canada.

This article examines the impact of population aging on work life duration (WLD) in Canada by integrating mortality, labour force participation, and workload (hours worked) across the life cycle from 1981 to 2016. It finds that contrary to common concerns, WLD increased by nearly five years, and the proportion of life expectancy spent working (work life ratio, WLR) rose by 3.55 percentage points, driven primarily by increased labour participation, especially among women and older adults. The study decomposes these changes into demographic and behavioural components, showing that behavioural factors—mainly labour participation—have outweighed mortality improvements in shaping labour supply trends. These findings suggest that extending the normal retirement age may not be urgently necessary in Canada, highlighting the importance of policies that support longer and healthier working lives rather than focusing solely on demographic shifts.