2021 Canadian census

Questionnaire

In early May 2021, Statistics Canada began sending mailings to households throughout Canada containing instructions for completing the census questionnaire. The questionnaires could be completed by returning the paper questionnaire, or by phone or online by using an access code provided in the mailing. Statistics Canada expected about 80% of households to complete the questionnaire online. It was also available in large-print, braille, audio, and video formats. The questionnaire questions were available in a number of languages (Arabic, simplified and traditional Chinese, Italian, Korean, Persian, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Spanish, Urdu, and Vietnamese) and Indigenous languages (Atikamekw, Denesuline, Nunavik and Nunavut Inuktitut, Mohawk, Montagnais, Naskapi, Northern Quebec Cree, Ojibwe, Oji-Cree, Plains Cree, Swampy Cree, and Tłı̨chǫ), but the questionnaire had to be completed in either English or French.

The questionnaire came in two formats: short-form and long-form. The standard, short-form questionnaire was to be completed by 75% of households; it collected data on age, languages spoken, marital status, religious affiliation and other basic data about the household. The remaining 25% of households completed a long-form questionnaire: this collected more extensive information about the household's economic and social state, information about the occupied dwelling, and other more detailed information (in addition to the basic data collected in the short-form questionnaire).

Those who completed a census questionnaire online could listen to a number of soundtracks on Spotify and YouTube prepared by Statistics Canada.

Completing the questionnaire was at the time of the 2021 census, and remains, a legal requirement. Refusal to complete a questionnaire exposes a person to a fine of up to $500. It must be completed by Canadian citizens, permanent residents, refugee claimants, and those with a study or work permit.

Data release schedule

Data from the 2021 census was released over the course of 2022, organised by topic/theme:

• February 9, 2022, for population and dwelling counts;
• April 27, 2022, for age, sex at birth, gender, and type of dwelling;
• July 13, 2022, for families, households, and marital status, Canadian military experience, and income;
• August 17, 2022, for languages;
• September 21, 2022, for Indigenous peoples, and housing;
• October 26, 2022, for immigration, place of birth, and citizenship, ethnocultural and religious diversity, and mobility and migration;
• November 30, 2022, for education, labour, language of work, commuting, and instruction in the official minority language.

Data

Statistics Canada links income and related information obtained from the Canada Revenue Agency, and immigration status data obtained from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, to the census responses.

The 2021 Canadian census included new questions "critical to measuring equity, diversity and inclusivity". For the first time, questions were asked about commuting methods, and the census asked new questions designed to better count transgender people and people of non-binary gender. Canada is thus the "first country to collect and publish data on gender diversity from a national census".

Results

The 2021 census recorded a total federal population of 36,991,981, living in 14,978,941 of Canada's total 16,284,235 dwellings. With a land area of 8,788,702.80 km² (3,393,337.12 sq mi), Canada's population density was thus 4.21/km² (10.90/sq mi). Canada's most- and least-populated provinces were Ontario and Prince Edward Island, respectively. Amongst the three territories, the Northwest Territories was the largest in terms of population, while Nunavut once again became the smallest territory after briefly overtaking Yukon in 2016.

The total national population of Canada rose by 5.2 per cent since the 2016 census, which had recorded a national population of 35,151,728. Three provinces' and one territory's population grew faster than Canada's overall population increase: Prince Edward Island – an 8 per cent increase, British Columbia – a 7.6 per cent increase, and Ontario – a 5.8 per cent increase; and Yukon – a 12.1 per cent increase. The rapid growth in Yukon is largely credited to immigration and to migration from other parts of Canada. At the other end of the spectrum, only one province and one territory saw a decrease in population since 2016: Newfoundland and Labrador – a 1.8 per cent decrease, and the Northwest Territories — a 1.7 per cent decrease.

The majority of Canadians identified their sex at birth as female (50.73%), while 49.27% of the population identified their birth sex as male. The median age overall was 41.6 years – 42.8 years for females and 40.4 years for males.

The 2021 census data showed 0.33% (100,815, or approximately 1 in 300) of the Canadian population aged 15 years and older (total nearly 30.5m) identified their gender as either transgender (59,460) or as non-binary (41,355).

Population

Age, sex at birth, and gender

Ethnic origins