It’s rare in the country, but millennials outweigh the number of seniors in Saskatchewan. This makes the province the second youngest in the country, trailing behind Alberta.
People 65 years and older make up 15 and a half per cent of Saskatchewan’s population. Meanwhile, millennials, those between 15 and 34, make up 26 per cent.
University of Regina Student Union President Jermain McKenzie is proud to be part of the growing population of millennials in Saskatchewan. For him, it’s all about potential.
READ MORE: Census 2016: Saskatoon children outnumber seniors, bucking national trend
The economy minister takes heart in the numbers, arguing the benefits far outweigh the challenges.
“The number of students in schools, (and the) demographic reality that sort of goes with that… Those are good challenges to have… It speaks to our human potential in the future. We had a very significant increase in our population in this province over the last 10 years or so… The fact that a lot of that has been young people, I think is a very healthy and positive thing,” Harrison said.
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McKenzie hopes to take the minister’s words and turn them into more support for post-secondary students.
“We need a long term plan to find what is the vision of the province for post secondary. Are we going to continue to grow at the rate we have been growing, but how can we do that with other cut backs from the government? That is not possible,” McKenzie said.