Life expectancy for Canadians continues to increase, but the pace of the increase has slowed in the last five years, according to a fact sheet from the federal Office of the Chief Actuary (OCA) published on Wednesday.
The OCA administers the Old Age Security (OAS) program.
Life expectancy has continually increased for both male and female OAS recipients, since 2000, the fact sheet highlights.
For instance, males aged 65 in 2016 can now expect to live another 19.2 years, up from 16.5 years for males aged 65 in 2000. Females aged 65 in 2016 can expect to live an extra 22.0 years, up from 20.1 years in 2000.
However, “There is a slowing trend in the pace of increases in life expectancy at age 65 and 75 for both males and females,” the fact sheet says.
The trend is more pronounced for males. For example, between 2002 and 2006, life expectancy for males aged 65 increased by an average of 2.5 months each year. Between 2012-2016, projected life spans only increased by 1.4 months per year.
Additionally, the average annual mortality improvement rates (MIRs) point to a decreasing trend all age groups under age 80, and relatively stable MIRs for ages over 80.