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Statistics Canada reports that in 2023, Canada's fertility rate fell to its lowest level ever for the second consecutive year.
According to the organization, the nation's fertility rate was 1.26 children born per woman, with British Columbia having the lowest rate at one kid per woman.
Although there were almost 350,000 births in 2023, the number of births remained steady from 2022 to 2023. According to Statistics Canada, this reduced fertility rate is the result of more women of reproductive age residing in the nation in 2023.
With 1.3 children per woman or less, Canada has now entered the club of "lowest-low" fertility nations, which also includes South Korea, Spain, Italy, and Japan, the agency said in a statement on Wednesday. "In contrast, the overall rate of fertility
was 1.62 per woman in the United States in 2023."Screenshot_20241002-205744.png
Ten of the 13 provinces and territories had their lowest birth rates on record, according to Statistics Canada.
The agency added that the rate of premature births in 2023, at 8.3 per cent, was the highest recorded in the past 50 years.
Canada's 2022 fertility rate lowest on record, StatsCan reports
It says that rate could be due to the higher numbers of older women giving birth, as the "risk of a premature birth increases as the age of the mother increases."
The agency says 26.5 per cent of new mothers were 35 or older in 2023, compared to 10.7 per cent in 1993. The average age of childbearing was 31.7 years in 2023.
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According to Hall, a lot of individuals don't feel comfortable having children without stable housing and employment due to the high expense of living in Canada, and British Columbia in particular.
"There's such a massive economic impact [with] what's happened over the last number of years with COVID and our inflation rates and the housing crisis, that I'm not surprised that young people are delaying having children or potentially not even able to have children at all by the time they're economically able to," she told News.com.
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.. Co-founder of Olive Fertility Centre and clinical associate professor Beth Taylor of UBC reported witnessing a growing number of women put off having children until their late 30s and early 40s.
"We're also noticing more and more people coming in to freeze eggs, indicating that there's a desire for people to have children, but just not right now," she continued.
"I think people are wanting to preserve their fertility in hopes that maybe one day in the future their situation will be in a better place.
"But as Hall and Taylor point out, women cannot be helped beyond a certain age by even the most sophisticated reproductive methods.
"Use contraception and be careful and follow these guidelines to help you not have a child when it's not right for you," Taylor said. "But don't wait too long because there is a window in which you can have kids."
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