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2006 Profile of Aboriginal Children, Youth and Adults

Step 1: Age group - Under 6 years of age
Step 2: Population - North American Indian Ancestry (living off-reserve)
Step 3: Geography - Canada (Urban), Canada

Related 2006 Census data:

Aboriginal population showing population counts and percentage change - Canada (Urban) or Canada
Aboriginal Population Profile - Canada

Family and community	Canada (Urban)			Canada
Download table¹: CSV TAB	Select another region			Select another region
	Total	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female
	percent²
Family structure
Living with two parents	63	64	61	66	66	65
Living with one parent	33	32	35	31	30	31
Number of generations living in household
Living in a two generation family: child(ren) - parent(s)	88	88	89	88	88	88
Living in a three generation family: child(ren) - parent(s) - grandparent(s)	8	8	8	8	8	8
Child care³	Canada (Urban)			Canada
	Total	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female
	percent²
Receiving regular child care	50	50	50	50	49	50
Of children receiving child care:
In licensed child care	63	63	63	61	62	61
Child care promotes First Nations, Métis or Inuit traditional, cultural values and customs	16	16	15	16	16	16
Participate in learning activities, such as songs, stories, or learning-based play	93	93	93	93	93	93
Main type of care
Daycare or child care centre	44	45	43	42	43	41
Nursery school/preschool⁴	9	10	9	9	9	9
Aboriginal languages most often used in child care
Receive regular child care that uses an Aboriginal language⁴	3	3	3	4	4	4
Nurturing	Canada (Urban)			Canada
	Total	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female
	percent²
Nurturing and raising the child
Mother involved in raising the child⁵	94	94	94	94	94	94
Father involved in raising the child⁶	77	78	76	78	79	78
At least one grandparent involved in raising the child	41	41	40	41	42	41
At least one aunt/uncle/cousin/sibling involved in raising the child	24	24	23	24	24	23
Children that attend a child-parent program (e.g., 'mom and tots,' 'the dad program,' 'mother goose') at least once per week⁴	13	12	14	13	12	14
Healthy living	Canada (Urban)			Canada
	Total	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female
	percent²
Child health
In excellent or very good health	86	85	88	87	85	88
In good health	10	12	9	10	11	9
In fair or poor health	3	3	3	3	3	3
With a long-term health condition diagnosed by a health professional	29	33	25	28	32	25
Who have asthma or use Ventolin, an inhaler or puffer	15	17	12	14	17	12
Who have ever had dental problems	16	15	17	16	15	17
Birth weight
Weighing less than 2,500 grams at birth	6	6	6	7	6	7
Weighing between 2,500 and 4,000 grams at birth	74	71	77	74	71	76
Weighing over 4,000 grams at birth	17	20	13	16	19	13
Health care
Who has child seen in past 12 months for physical, emotional or mental health:
Family doctor, general practitioner or pediatrician	85	85	85	83	83	83
Public health nurse, nurse practitioner	40	39	40	41	41	41
Another medical specialist	14	15	13	14	15	12
Dentist, dental therapist, orthodontist	41	39	42	40	39	42
Eye doctor or optometrist	16	15	16	16	15	16
Unable to obtain health care or medication when needed in the past 12 months	8	9	8	8	8	8
Sleep
Average number of hours child sleeps day and night:
Sleeping 8 hours or less day and night	5	6	5	5	6	5
Sleeping 9 hours or more day and night	94	94	94	94	93	94
Food and nutrition	Canada (Urban)			Canada
	Total	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female
	percent²
Breast feeding
Ever breast-fed	75	74	76	75	73	75
Breast-fed for at least 4 months	60	60	60	61	61	61
Breast-fed for at least 6 months	52	52	51	52	52	52
Aboriginal languages spoken or understood	Canada (Urban)			Canada
	Total	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female
	percent²
Able to speak or understand an Aboriginal language⁴	14	14	15	15	14	15
Expected by parent/guardian to become fluent in an Aboriginal language	21	20	22	22	21	23
Children for which parent/guardian believes it is important to speak and understand an Aboriginal language	22	22	23	23	23	23

Notes:

1. To access the comma-separated values (CSV) or the tab-separated values (TAB) file, use the conversion features available in most spreadsheet software, or use a free-of-charge viewer.
2. Percentages may not add to 100 because missing data (i.e., don't know, refusal, not stated) were included in the calculation of all estimates and because of rounding. Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number.
3. Excludes children who are currently attending school.
4. Updated October 31, 2011.
5. The category 'mother' includes birth mother, step mother (including common-law step parent), adoptive mother and foster mother.
6. The category 'father' includes birth father, step father (including common-law step parent), adoptive father and foster father.

Source: Statistics Canada, Aboriginal Children's Survey, 2006.