Demographics of Canada

Population

The 2021 Canadian census had a total population count of 36,991,981 individuals, making up approximately 0.5% of the world's total population. A population estimate for 2024 put the total number of people in Canada at 41,012,563.

Provinces and territories

The vast majority of Canadians are positioned in a discontinuous band within approximately 300 km of the southern border with the United States; the most populated province is Ontario, followed by Quebec and British Columbia.

Cities

Census metropolitan areas

Fertility rate

View source data.

The total fertility rate is the number of children born in a specific year cohort to the total number of women who can give birth in the country.

In 1971, the birth rate for the first time dipped below replacement and since then has not rebounded.

Canada's fertility rate hit a record low of 1.26 children born per woman in 2024, and tied it in 2025. This is Canada's third consecutive year with 'ultra-low fertility' (<1.30). In 2022, Canada also experienced the country's lowest absolute number of births in 17 years. From 2021 to 2022, Canada's TFR decreased by −7.4%, its largest drop in 50 years. The total birth rate is 10.17 births/1,000 population in 2022.

Total fertility rates by provinces and territories

Mother's mean age at first birth

Canada is among late-childbearing countries, with the average age of mothers at the first birth being 31.3 years in 2020.

Historical population

Population projection

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)/World Bank, the population of Canada increased from 1990 to 2008 by 5.6 million, a 20.4% growth in population, compared to 21.7% growth in the United States, 31.2% growth in Mexico, 8% in France and 27% or 1,423 million people globally. From 1991 to 2011, the population of the UK increased by 10%.

The population growth rate for Canada in 2022 was 0.75%.

Life expectancy

Life expectancy in Canada has consistently risen since the country's formation.

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

total: 16 years

male: 16 years

female: 17 years (2016)

Infant mortality rate

total: 4.5 deaths/1,000 live births. Country comparison to the world: 180th

male: 4.8 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 4.2 deaths/1,000 live births (2017 est.)

Age characteristics

Population by Sex and Age Group (Census 10.V.2016) (To ensure confidentiality, the values, including totals are randomly rounded either up or down to a multiple of '5' or '10.' As a result, when these data are summed or grouped, the total value may not match the individual values since totals and sub-totals are independently rounded. Similarly, percentages, which are calculated on rounded data, may not necessarily add up to 100%.):

Age structure

0–14 years: 15.99% (male 3,094,008/female 2,931,953)

15–24 years: 11.14% (male 2,167,013/female 2,032,064)

25–54 years: 39.81% (male 7,527,554/female 7,478,737)

55–64 years: 14.08% (male 2,624,474/female 2,682,858)

65 years and over: 18.98% (male 3,274,298/female 3,881,126) (2020 est.)

Median age

total: 41.8 years. Country comparison to the world: 40th

male: 40.6 years

female: 42.9 years (2020 est.)

Median age in 2011

total: 40.6 years

male: 39.6 years

female: 41.5 years (2011)

Median age by province and territory in 2011

1. Newfoundland and Labrador: 44.0
2. Nova Scotia: 43.7
3. New Brunswick: 43.7
4. Prince Edward Island: 42.8
5. Quebec: 41.9
6. British Columbia: 41.9
7. Ontario: 40.4
8. Yukon: 39.1
9. Manitoba: 38.4
10. Saskatchewan: 38.2
11. Alberta: 36.5
12. Northwest Territories: 32.3
13. Nunavut: 24.1

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female

0–14 years: 1.06 male(s)/female

15–24 years: 1.06 male(s)/female

25–54 years: 1.01 male(s)/female

55–64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female

total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2022 est).

Dependency ratios

total dependency ratio: 47.3

youth dependency ratio: 23.5

elderly dependency ratio: 23.8

potential support ratio: 4.2 (2015 est.)

Vital statistics

Source:

Notable events in Canadian demographics:

• 1947–1966 – Mid-20th century baby boom

In 2024, more than two in five newborns (42.3%) in Canada had a foreign-born mother (i.e., a mother who was born outside Canada).

View source data. View source data.

Current vital statistics

Note: all numbers in this table are provisional. While data for at least two years ago may be final, newer data for recent days are subject to change in the future. For example, as of September 25, 2024, the numbers are final up to December 2021, updated from January 2022 to March 2024 and preliminary from April 2024.

Employment

Unemployment, youth ages 15–24 (2020 est.)

total: 20.2%

male: 20.9%

female: 19.4%

Ethnicity and visible minorities

Canadians as ethnic group by province

All citizens of Canada are classified as "Canadians" as defined by Canada's nationality laws. "Canadian" as an ethnic group has since 1996 been added to census questionnaires for possible ancestral origin or descent. "Canadian" was included as an example on the English questionnaire and "Canadien" as an example on the French questionnaire. The majority of respondents to this selection are from the eastern part of the country that was first settled. Respondents generally are visibly European (Anglophones and Francophones) and no longer self-identify directly with their ethnic ancestral origins. This response is attributed to a multitude of reasons such as generational distance from ancestral lineage, intermarriage with a variety of ethnic groups, and loss of ancestral language.

Ethnic origin

According to the 2021 Canadian census, over 450 "ethnic or cultural origins" were self-reported by Canadians. The major panethnic groups chosen were: European (52.5%), North American (22.9%), Asian (19.3%), North American Indigenous (6.1%), African (3.8%), Latin, Central and South American (2.5%), Caribbean (2.1%), Oceanian (0.3%), and Other (6%). Statistics Canada reports that 35.5% of the population reported multiple ethnic origins, thus the overall total is greater than 100%.

The country's ten largest self-reported specific ethnic or cultural origins in 2021 were Canadian (accounting for 15.6 percent of the population), followed by English (14.7 percent), Irish (12.1 percent), Scottish (12.1 percent), French (11.0 percent), German (8.1 percent), Indian (5.1 percent), Chinese (4.7 percent), Italian (4.3 percent), and Ukrainian (3.5 percent).

Of the 36.3 million people enumerated in 2021 approximately 25.4 million reported being "White", representing 69.8 percent of the population. The Indigenous population representing 5 percent or 1.8 million individuals, grew by 9.4 percent compared to the non-Indigenous population, which grew by 5.3 percent from 2016 to 2021. One out of every four Canadians or 26.5 percent of the population belonged to a non-White and non-Indigenous visible minority, the largest of which in 2021 were South Asian (2.6 million people; 7.1 percent), Chinese (1.7 million; 4.7 percent) and Black (1.5 million; 4.3 percent).

As data is completely self-reported, and reporting individuals may have varying definitions of "Ethnic origin" (or may not know their ethnic origin), these figures should not be considered an exact record of the relative prevalence of different ethno-cultural ancestries but rather how Canadians self-identify.

Data from this section from Statistics Canada, 2021.

The most common ethnic origins per province are as follows in 2006 (total responses; only percentages 10% or higher shown; ordered by percentage of "Canadian"):

• Quebec (7,723,525): Canadian (59.1%), French (29.1%)
• New Brunswick (735,835): Canadian (50.3%), French (27.2%), English (25.9%), Irish (21.6%), Scottish (19.9%)
• Newfoundland and Labrador (507,265): Canadian (49.0%), English (43.4%), Irish (21.8%)
• Nova Scotia (906,170): Canadian (39.1%), Scottish (31.2%), English (30.8%), Irish (22.3%), French (17.0%), German (10.8%)
• Prince Edward Island (137,375): Scottish (39.3%), Canadian (36.8%), English (31.1%), Irish (30.4%), French (21.1%)
• Ontario (12,651,795): Canadian (23.3%), English (23.1%), Scottish (16.4%), Irish (16.4%), French (10.8%)
• Alberta (3,567,980): English (24.9%), Canadian (21.8%), German (19.2%), Scottish (18.8%), Irish (15.8%), French (11.1%)
• Manitoba (1,174,345): English (21.8%), German (18.6%), Canadian (18.5%), Scottish (18.0%), Ukrainian (14.9%), Irish (13.2%), French (12.6%), North American Indian (10.6%)
• Saskatchewan (1,008,760): German (28.6%), English (24.9%), Scottish (18.9%), Canadian (18.8%), Irish (15.5%), Ukrainian (13.5%), French (12.2%), North American Indian (12.1%)
• British Columbia (4,324,455): English (27.7%), Scottish (19.3%), Canadian (19.1%), German (13.1%), Chinese (10.7%)
• Yukon (33,320): English (28.5%), Scottish (25.0%), Irish (22.0%), North American Indian (21.8%), Canadian (21.8%), German (15.6%), French (13.1%)
• Northwest Territories (40,800): North American Indian (37.0%), Scottish (13.9%), English (13.7%), Canadian (12.8%), Irish (11.9%), Inuit (11.7%)
• Nunavut (31,700): Inuit (85.4%)

Italics indicates either that this response is dominant within this province, or that this province has the highest ratio (percentage) of this response among provinces.

Visible minority population

Note: Indigenous population decline between 1991 and 1996 censuses attributed to change in criteria in census count; "the 1996 Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples used a more restrictive definition of Aboriginal".

Indigenous population

Note: Other Indigenous and mixed Indigenous groups are not listed as their own, but they are all accounted for in total Indigenous

Future projections

Statistics Canada projects that visible minorities will make up between 38.2% and 43.0% of the total Canadian population by 2041, compared with 26.5% in 2021. Among the working-age population (15 to 64 years), meanwhile, visible minorities are projected to represent between 42.1% and 47.3% of Canada's total population, compared to 28.5% in 2021.

Languages

Knowledge of language

The question on knowledge of languages allows for multiple responses, and first appeared on the 1991 Canadian census. The following figures are from the 1991 Canadian census, 2001 Canadian census, 2011 Canadian census, and the 2021 Canadian census.

Mother tongue

Work

Home

Immigration

According to the 2021 Canadian census, immigrants in Canada number 8.3 million persons and make up approximately 23 percent of Canada's total population. This represents the eighth-largest immigrant population in the world, while the proportion represents one of the highest ratios for industrialized Western countries.

Immigrants from specific countries are divided into several ethnic groups. For example, there are both Punjabis and Muhajirs from Pakistan, both Turks and Kurds from Turkey and both Sinhalese and Tamil from Sri Lanka. Immigrants from Iran are divided into Mazandaranians, Armenians, Azeris, Persians, Kurds, Gilaks and Lurs.

Since confederation in 1867 through to the contemporary era, decadal and demi-decadal census reports have detailed immigration statistics. During this period, the highest annual immigration rate in Canada occurred in 1913, when 400,900 new immigrants accounted for 5.3 percent of the total population, while the greatest number of foreign-born individuals admitted to Canada in single year occurred in 2021, with 405,330 new immigrants accounting for 1.1 percent of the total population.

Statistics Canada projects that immigrants will represent between 29.1% and 34.0% of Canada's population in 2041, compared with 23.0% in 2021, while the Canadian population with at least one foreign born parent (first and second generation persons) could rise to between 49.8% and 54.3%, up from 44.0% in 2021.

Migration data

Religion

In 2021, 53.3% of Canadians were Christians, down from 67.3% in 2011. 29.9% were Catholic while 11.4% were Protestant (all other listed denominations excluding Christian Orthodox, Latter Day Saints and Jehovah's Witnesses). 7.6% were Christian not otherwise specified, 2.1% were "other Christian and Christian-related traditions", 1.7% were Christian Orthodox, 0.4% were Jehovah's Witnesses and 0.2% were Latter Day Saints adherents.

34.6% of Canadians were non-religious or secular, up from 23.9% in 2011. Of the non-Christian religions listed, 4.9% of Canadians were Muslim (3.2% in 2011), 2.3% were Hindu (1.5% in 2011), 2.1% were Sikh (1.4% in 2011), 1.0% were Buddhist (1.1% in 2011), 0.9% were Jewish (1.0% in 2011), 0.2% were believers of traditional (North American Indigenous) spirituality (same as 2011), and 0.6% were believers of other religions and spiritual traditions (0.4% in 2011).