North America · CA
Generation Alpha & Beta
in Canada
How many of each cohort Canada has, how fast the next one is arriving, and what the fertility rate, median age and school system mean for both.
Canada has approximately 6 million Generation Alpha people (born 2010–2024), about 14.6% of its population, and roughly 631,211 Generation Beta children born since 2025. Its fertility rate is 1.3 and its child population is roughly flat, projected -2% by 2040.
Births since 1 January 2025 at Canada's own rate, less infant mortality. At 959 births a day it climbs steadily rather than visibly.
Born 2010–2024 — 14.6% of the population, aged 2–16 this year.
About 959 births a day, all of them Generation Beta.
Smaller than the Alpha cohort of 6 million.
Size of the Generation Alpha cohort
Share of the population under 15
Total fertility rate
Child population to 2040 (−2%)
Canada against the world average
Key dates for Canada
11 compulsory years from age 5.
Born on 1 January 2025, they reach Canada's starting age of 5.
Under-15s change by −2% against today.
Eighteen years after the cohort opened.
The cohort closes on 31 December 2039; its youngest members enter school here.
School dates follow Canada's own starting age of 5 and 11 compulsory years, so they differ from the global figures on our Generation Beta page.
Social media age law in Canada
Bill: Platforms must use age verification to keep under-16s from holding accounts (minimum age 16). Bill C-34 introduced 10 June 2026; at second reading.
Source: Parliament of Canada, checked 16 October 2026. Every country's rule: social media age laws by country.
Every figure on this page
Canada in 20 numbers
| Indicator | Canada | World average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 41.0 million | — | #38 of 194 |
| Generation Alpha (born 2010–2024) | 6 million | — | #61 of 194 |
| Gen Alpha share of population | 14.6% | — | #166 of 194 |
| Projected Gen Beta births 2025–39 | 5 million | — | #60 of 194 |
| Births per year | 350,000 | — | #64 of 194 |
| Births per day | 959 | — | #64 of 194 |
| Under-15 share of population | 16% | 25% | #145 of 194 |
| Total fertility rate | 1.3 | 2.2 | #168 of 194 |
| Median age | 41 years | 31 years | #38 of 194 |
| Life expectancy at birth | 82 years | 73 years | #25 of 194 |
| Urban population | 82% | 58% | #43 of 194 |
| Internet use | 94% | 68% | #28 of 192 |
| Secondary school completion | 93% | 60% | #61 of 189 |
| School starting age | age 5 | — | #164 of 194 |
| Compulsory years of schooling | 11 years | — | #57 of 194 |
| Daily screen time, ages 8–12 | 5 hours | — | #2 of 42 |
| Cost of raising a child to 18 | $280k | — | #4 of 61 |
| Under-15 population change to 2040 | −2% | — | #70 of 194 |
| Youth dependency ratio | 23 per 100 adults | — | #153 of 194 |
| Mobile connections per 100 people | 95 | — | #137 of 194 |
Rank is out of the 194 countries profiled here and always runs highest first — so #1 on median age is the oldest country, not the youngest. World averages are population-weighted global figures and are shown only where a comparable one exists. Sources: UN World Population Prospects, World Bank Open Data, UNESCO and ITU, via our sources page.
1950 to 2023, with the UN projection to 2030
Canada birth rate and fertility rate by year
About 356,700 babies were born in Canada in 2023, and women had 1.35 children on average. Since 1950, births peaked in 1959 at about 463,500. Fertility first fell below the replacement level of 2.1 in 1972. Annual births are 8% higher than in 2000.
Fertility rate (children per woman)
Births per year
Thousands of births. Dashed: UN medium-variant projection.
| Year | Births | Fertility rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 359,100 | 3.37 |
| 1960 | 462,400 | 3.82 |
| 1970 | 356,100 | 2.27 |
| 1980 | 362,800 | 1.66 |
| 1990 | 403,000 | 1.70 |
| 2000 | 329,700 | 1.51 |
| 2010 | 377,800 | 1.64 |
| 2015 | 384,600 | 1.60 |
| 2020 | 362,200 | 1.41 |
| 2021 | 369,800 | 1.43 |
| 2022 | 354,700 | 1.37 |
| 2023 | 356,700 | 1.35 |
| 2025 projected | 361,100 | 1.33 |
| 2030 projected | 364,000 | 1.32 |
UN World Population Prospects 2024, republished by Our World in Data. Years to 2023 are UN estimates, which can differ from a country's own registered counts; later years are the UN medium-variant projection. Every country is ranked on fertility rate by country.
Run the numbers yourself
Tools that use this data
Gen Beta by Country Forecast
Where the 2.1 billion Betas will be born, and which countries shrink instead.
Under-15 Share by Country
The countries where Alpha and Beta make up the largest share of the population.
Global Child Population Table
Where the world's children are, ranked by region, with the direction each one is…
Median Age Calculator
What a country's median age implies about its Alpha and Beta share, its dependency…
School-Age Population Forecast
How many children will be of school age in any year, globally or nationally.
Where a tool takes a number it opens prefilled with Canada's own figure rather than the world one, and every input stays editable. The rest are the same ranked tables for every country.
Frequently asked about Canada
How many Gen Alpha are there in Canada?
Approximately 6 million people born between 2010 and 2024 live in Canada, about 14.6% of the population.
How many Gen Beta children are there in Canada?
Roughly 631,211 children have been born in Canada since 1 January 2025, growing by about 40 every hour.
What is the fertility rate in Canada?
Canada has a total fertility rate of 1.3 children per woman, against a replacement level of 2.1 and a world average of about 2.2.
At what age do children start school in Canada?
Compulsory schooling begins at age 5 in Canada, and runs for 11 years.
Is the child population in Canada growing or shrinking?
It is roughly flat. The under-15 population is projected to change by -2% between now and 2040.
How many babies are born in Canada each year?
About 356,700 in 2023, according to UN estimates, down from a peak of about 463,500 in 1959 (the highest since 1950). The UN projects about 364,000 in 2030.
How has the fertility rate in Canada changed over time?
It was 3.37 children per woman in 1950 and 1.35 in 2023. It first fell below the replacement level of 2.1 in 1972.
AlphaBetaMinds (2026). Generation Alpha and Generation Beta in Canada. Retrieved from https://alphabetaminds.com/countries/canada
The printed sheet keeps the headline numbers, the world comparison, the key dates, the full indicator table and this citation, and drops the navigation, the tools and the FAQ. It fits a page or two and needs no login.
Free to reproduce, commercially or not, with a credit and a link. Figures are estimates for 2025–2026 and are updated when the underlying sources are.