Several media outlets have commented on this petition and used the press release previously posted.  This has helped register over 30,000 signatures!

Meanwhile, a few supporters have asked: where do the population numbers given in the petition come from?  Here is the answer:

1.  The ten million baby-boomers (born in 1945 or 1946) is a number reported by Statscan.  

2.  The 10 million existing caregivers is an extrapolation based on the 2012 census, which was the last one to use the long form.  It found that there were 8 million caregivers six years ago. 

3.  Since 2012 that number would have grown due to our rapidly aging population, but by how much?  We can prudently estimate that over the last 6 years the number of caregivers would have grown from 8 to 10 million -- i.e., an average of 200,000 new caregivers for each province and territory. 

That is where 10 million plus another 10 million come from.  In other words, 20 million Canadians are now receiving or giving care out of a total population of 36.9 million (2018 figure). 

That's almost half of today's population!

But even this number does not include the additional caregivers who will be required by aging baby-boomers -- they could well push the number to 25 million Canadians giving or receiving care by 2026.

This is what justifies the claim that 2 out of 3 Canadians could be involved in care-giving by 2026.  Since in 2012 the ratio was 1 out of 4 Canadians, the dramatic increase is obvious.  

These are staggering numbers, but we will not know whether this extrapolation is accurate until we have another census.

Are these numbers wildly exaggerated and alarmist, or reasonable and well-founded estimates? 

While you decide, please continue sharing and signing this petition as well as its promotional video found on Youtube.

Salvatore (Sal) Amenta