A baby born in 2006 in Canada can expect to live to an average age of 80.9, Statistics Canada says.

That's up 0.2 years from 2005-07, the agency said Tuesday in its report on rising life expectancy, titled Deaths 2008.

Three provinces showed life expectancy at birth that were above the national average:

- British Columbia at 81.4 years.

- Ontario at 81.3 years.

- Quebec at 81.0 years.

Men generally have a lower life expectancy than women, but the gap has narrowed in the past decade.

Between 1996-98, the gap in life expectancy at birth between men and women was 5.6 years, up from 4.6 years in 2006-08.

Among seniors, life expectancy at age 65 reached another 20.0 years in 2006-08, up 0.2 years compared with 2005-07.

In 2008, 238,617 people died in the country, up 1.4 per cent from the year before.

The infant mortality rate stayed the same at 5.1 infant deaths per 1,000 live births.