We tend to think of life expectancy as a constant that is measured from birth. In fact, it rises gradually over our lifetime, simply because we have managed to avoid dying at an earlier age. In the case of Canadian women, life expectancy when measured from birth is 84.4. Measured from age 65 it is 87.4 and rises to 89.4 from age 75. These numbers are broad averages for all Canadian women. Those who are university-educated non-smokers with higher income and a healthy lifestyle can expect to live about five years longer than the average. This chart does not take into account future improvements in mortality which, based on long-term trends, might add another year of life over the next 10 to 15 years. (Here is the previous chart, which look at how long a man will live.)
Source: Statistics Canada Table 13-10-0837-01 using 2019 data
Frederick Vettese is former chief actuary of Morneau Shepell and author of Retirement Income for Life.