Did seniors benefit from consumption and public transfers at the expense of youth? Evidence from National Transfer Accounts in Canada’s Provinces (1997–2017)

National Transfer Accounts (NTA) integrate micro- and macro-level data to measure the ways individuals of various ages produce, consume, save, and share resources. This methodology has been applied in more than 100 countries worldwide following United Nations guidelines. This paper proposes a theoretical framework for constructing NTA at the subnational level and presents an application across five Canadian regions from 1997 to 2017. We report two important findings. First, substantial interregional transfers in Canada reduce disparities among regions. Second, the per capita consumption of seniors, compared to individuals aged 0 to 24, remained stable over the two decades analyzed. Additionally, public transfers—whether or not they account for transfers paid—received by seniors relative to younger individuals declined over the 20-year study period. Consequently, in all Canadian regions, seniors did not gain an advantage in consumption and public transfers at the expense of young individuals between 1997 and 2017.