Larry Steele will officially become a senior in December when he marks his 65th birthday, but he says age is just a number.
In fact, Steele spent his day biking near the Halifax Common Monday.
"We're all getting older, I guess," he said with a laugh. "So, fair enough."
It's an observation you can make in the broader-sense as well.
Census data expected this week will reveal how much Canadians aged since the last head-count in 2016.
Back then, data revealed for the first time that those over 65 outnumbered Canadians 14 and younger.
The new numbers are expected to further widen the gap, which will have implications for all.
"People look at the size and the growth in our labour force. It slows down with an older population," said Doug Norris, chief demographer and senior VP with Environics, from Ottawa.
"And certainly the impacts on the health-care system, the need for long-term care, are all factors which I think we're going to see even more pronounced in the years ahead."
Interestingly, Norris - who earned the nickname "Mr. Census" after 30 years with Statistics Canada, says we might not notice the trend as much in our region because the Maritime population is already older. However, advocates say we haven't done much about it.
"Governments still aren't getting it," said Bill Van Gorder, chief policy officer for the Canadian Association of Retired Persons, or CARP.
"In an election, all the parties cater to seniors and talk about them, but then we don't see any results after they're elected," he said.
Census data is considered vital for everyone from policy-makers to private enterprise, but we've been hearing about some of the problems for years.
"Certainly at this point in time, I'm very concerned about the number of people who do not have a family physician. That, I find quite scary," said 77-year-old Nini Corra, adding her husband is among them after his doctor retired.
Steele says he has been giving the future some thought.
"I think it's good to have a lot of homecare, try to do as much as you can to keep people in the homes."
