| While Canadian aboriginal seniors make up a | | | | Though Canadian Aboriginals make up only one |
| very tiny percentage of the overall senior | | | | percent of the total Canadian Aboriginal |
| population in Canada they are a key link to | | | | population. However as life expectancy rates |
| culture and language in their communities. | | | | improve with improvements in healthcare and |
| This trend will continue as Canadian | | | | health infrastructure development as well as |
| Aboriginal Seniors increase in both numbers | | | | training these numbers are expected to rise |
| and percentages of the Canadian Aboriginal | | | | while falling birth rates will tend to |
| community with improvements in health care | | | | concentrate the existing group of Aboriginal |
| and life expectancy. | | | | Seniors as a percentage among the Canadian |
| | | | "First Nations". |
| "Seniors are revered in many aboriginal | | | | |
| communal cultures for their knowledge and | | | | In total there are approximately 40,000 |
| experiences, and the integral rile that they | | | | Aboriginal Seniors in Canada. The largest |
| place in the vitality and well being of their | | | | number live in the province of Ontario, |
| families , communities and nations ", says a | | | | followed by British Columbia, and Manitoba. |
| Statistics Canada Government Report titled " | | | | |
| A Portrait of Seniors in Canada". | | | | In terms of the percentage of Aboriginal |
| | | | Seniors in the total senior population, the |
| "Aboriginal people turn to their elders as | | | | provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan led |
| key sources of traditional knowledge, wisdom | | | | the way among the Canadian provinces with |
| and community continuity". | | | | four percent and three percent respectively. |
| | | | |
| "The Portrait of Seniors " Statistics Canada | | | | "Aboriginal seniors made up a far greater |
| report used data in part gathered from the | | | | percentage of the total senior population in |
| official Government of Canada 2001 census. | | | | the North of Canada in the Northwest |
| | | | Territories and the Yukon." |
| The government Stats Canada Report which used | | | | |
| data from the official Canadian Government | | | | But Aboriginal Seniors face lower life |
| Census looked at the wellness of people aged | | | | expectancies rates than non-Aboriginal |
| 65 and over across Canada. The report | | | | seniors with aboriginal women outliving |
| included a section which specifically focused | | | | aboriginal men, |
| on Canadian Aboriginal Seniors. | | | | |
| | | | Although low in percentages and total numbers |
| What was found was that aboriginal languages | | | | Canadian Aboriginal seniors will increase in |
| are much more prevalent among Canadian | | | | both numbers and percentages over the coming |
| Aboriginal Seniors and that is in part why | | | | years as life expectancy increases. This |
| they are a direct link and linkage to | | | | group has and will continue to expert an ever |
| Canadian Aboriginal culture and heritage. | | | | increasing important role in the cultural |
| | | | preservation of Aboriginal culture in Canada. |