P.E.I. population expected to continue to grow

Prince Edward Island's proportion of the Canadian population is expected to remain the same over the next 25 years, while that of other Atlantic provinces will fall.

The projections were issued in a report by Statistics Canada Wednesday. In all of the scenarios laid out by the agency, P.E.I. would grow at the same rate as Canada as a whole.

The agency projects the P.E.I. population will grow from 145,200 in 2013 to between 162,100 and 194,100 in 2038. In all cases P.E.I.'s proportion of the Canadian population would remain stable at 0.4 per cent.

That stable rate would be helped by the highest rate of international migration in the country.

Most projections for other Atlantic provinces show a decrease in their proportion of the Canadian population.

The population of the country as a whole will get older, and that rate will be accelerated in Atlantic Canada. On P.E.I., the percentage of the population aged 65 or older is expected to increase from 17.3 per cent in 2013 to between 26.9 and 30.2 per cent in 2038.