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Many Canadian couples are having just one kid. What does a declining birth rate mean for the country's future? ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

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The Best of Maclean's - From the Editor's Desk

The rise of the one-and-done family

If you’ve noticed more single-child families in your neighbourhood park, you aren’t imagining things. According to the latest census data, this is now the most common type of household with kids in Canada. Birth rates are dropping radically: in 2022, Canada hit a record fertility low of 1.33 births per woman.

We are simply not offsetting the aging population fast enough. And demographic decline presents challenges for Canada’s future. A low birth rate means a smaller tax base, fewer young people to look after the country’s seniors and the possibility of a shrinking economy.

So can Canadian parents be coaxed into having more kids? Courtney Shea investigates that question in her March issue cover story on the growing phenomenon of the one-and-done family. (Short answer: it’s pretty damn hard.) Her deeply reported piece is illuminating and entertaining and captures the attitude of a generation whose choices will shape the country for decades to come.

—Sarah Fulford, editor-in-chief

A photo of a child sitting on the ground between two parents' legs

Editor’s Picks

THIS WEEK’s TOP STORIES

An illustration of a crowd of people in a hospital waiting room

HEALTH

Why patients are waiting so long in emergency rooms

As Canada’s emergency rooms grapple with persistent staffing and bed shortages, hospital admission wait times are getting longer. The consequence? Some patients are dying in ERs while they wait 20, 40 or even 60 hours for a bed to open up. We talked to Michael Howlett, president of the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians, about how we got to this breaking point—and what needs to change to save patients’ lives.

An illustration of a woman with dark hair beside a badge that reads "MY PREDICTION 2024"

YEAR AHEAD

Why far-right politics will fuel extremism

Right-wing extremism in Canada has been on an upward trajectory for the past few years. In 2024, far-right movements will grow—and find new causes to exploit, writes Barbara Perry, the director of the Centre on Hate, Bias and Extremism at Ontario Tech University, in this essay for Maclean’s Year Ahead issue.

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NOW

A photo of a woman with a pixie cut, wearing a green hoodie, brown cardigan, black pants, and red sneakers. She's standing in front of a small blue cottage with a red door.

I banded together with strangers to buy a group of B.C. cottages

In 2020, Heidi Woodley and her two sons moved into one of eight historic cottages in Horseshoe Bay, BC. She loved watching the ferries from her kitchen window, and it felt like a forever sort of place to her. When all eight cottages went on the market the following year, a friend suggested that she start a collective to buy it. She said, “Oh come on, that’s ridiculous.” But the idea stuck in her head.

A Maclean's cover with the tagline "The One and Done Family," picturing two parents and a child.

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