A lengthy-warned of hard work crunch as a result of growing old toddler boomers is looming, with a report quantity of Canadians set to retire, according to data from a 2021 census launched Wednesday.

“Never before has the number of people nearing retirement been so high,” Statistics Canada said in a statement, with more than one in five workers (21.8 percent) close to the mandatory or proposed retirement age of 65.

The statement mentioned the boomer cohort’s go out from the exertions force as “one of the factors behind the labor shortages facing some industries across the country.”

Baby boomers — born between 1946 and 1965 — began to retire in 2011, but the rate is now accelerating to an “all-time high,” Statistics Canada said.

In late 2021, Statistics Canada said in a separate report that there were nearly one million unfilled positions across Canada, more than double the previous year.

Some of the hardest jobs to fill included restaurant staff, construction laborers, nurses and social workers.

According to the census, seven million Canadians — out of a total population of 37 million — are already 65 years or older, and the number of people aged 85 and up is forecast to triple to 2.7 million in the coming decades.

The demographic shift toward an older population is partly due to low fertility, as currently only 1.4 children are born per woman in the country, and gradual increases in life expectancy, Statistics Canada said.

Older Canadians, the employer said, are “staying more healthy, lively, and worried for longer.”

Despite this fashion, Canada nonetheless has one of the youngest populations among G7 international locations, after the USA and Britain, the document cited.