How Many Canadian Second World War Veteran Survivors?

According to the Veterans Affairs Canada Departmental Plan 2020–2021, as of 31 March 2020, it is estimated that there are 631,300 Veterans in Canada. This includes 599,400 Canadian Armed Forces Veterans and 31,900 War Service Veterans (WSV).

Estimates of WSV survivors from a year previous, March 2019, are for the Second World War, 33,200 of average age 94; for the Korean War, 6,500 of average age 87. Of the total estimated WSV survivor population of 39,700, 83.6% were from the Second World War.

Those WSV population estimates are based on the 1971 Statistics Canada Census and the 1988 Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey updated annually using survival rates from Statistics Canada life tables. That's a considerable extrapolation.

Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) would be expected to have better figures on the number of WSV's being served which, according to Table 1.3 as of 31 March 2019 was 15,644, an estimated 39% of the total WSVs.

The bar chart shows the recent history of WSVs served by VAC and projected to be served through 2024. An exponential fit to the data shows about 79% of those alive at the start of the year surviving until the new year.

Applying 79% survival to the 33,200 estimated by VAC for March 2019 there are 31,300 Canadian Second World War Veteran survivors as of March 2020.

Because the basis of the 2019 figure is the 1971 Statistics Canada Census and the 1988 Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey updated with general population data from Statistics Canada life tables I'd expect a substantial error in that estimate.