Canada is an aging society. In 2006, 13.7% of the total population of Canada was 65 years and over. This proportion was 9.7% only twenty five years ago in 1981. During the same period, the proportion of the population that was very old increased at a more rapid pace. For example, between 1981 and 2006 the proportion of the population that was 80 years and over rose from 1.7% to 3.7%. The number of people in this age group topped the 1 million mark (at 1.2 million) for the first time in 2006. In 2006, the population of Saskatchewan was the oldest in the country with 15.4% of the population 65 years and over. It also had the largest proportion of the oldest old, where one out of every 20 Saskatchewan residents was 80 years of age and over. The national average was one in 27. Saskatchewan's situation is unique, in that it has both the largest proportion of seniors and one of the largest proportions of children among the provinces. This is attributable to several factors: higher fertility compared to any other Canadian province due to a large Aboriginal population; a life expectancy that was, until quite recently, one of the highest in the country; and substantial losses of young adults migrating to Alberta to find employment. In general, Atlantic Canada (Newfoundland, and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick) and British Columbia had an older age structure population (14-15% in the age group 65 and over) compared with the national average, once again a reflection of their lower fertility rates.