Focus on Geography Series, 2011 Census

Census subdivision of Ottawa, CV - Ontario

Map of Ottawa, CV

Interactive version of map

Population, 2011 and 2006 censuses

Chart A description: Ottawa, CV - Population, 2011 and 2006 censuses

Prov. rank

Nat. rank

In 2011, Ottawa (City / Ville) had a population of 883,391, representing a percentage change of 8.8% from 2006. This compares to the national average growth of 5.9%.

Land area is 2,790.22 square kilometres with a population density of 316.6 persons per square kilometre. This compares to the provincial land area of 908,607.67 square kilometres with a population density of 14.1 persons per square kilometre.

In 2011, Ottawa (City / Ville) had 353,244 private dwellings occupied by usual residents. The change in private dwellings occupied by usual residents from 2006 was 10.1%. For Canada as a whole, the number of private dwellings occupied by usual residents increased 7.1%.

Ottawa (City / Ville) is part of the census metropolitan area of Ottawa - Gatineau (Ontario).

Population and dwelling counts

Ottawa (City / Ville) – Neighbouring census subdivisions

Table 1 Ottawa (City / Ville) – Neighbouring census subdivisions, population change, 2006 to 2011
Census subdivision (CSD) name	CSD type	Population
Census subdivision (CSD) name	CSD type	2011	2006	% change
Lochaber-Partie-Ouest, Que.	CT	646	514	25.7
Gatineau, Que.	V	265,349	242,124	9.6
Pontiac, Que.	M�	5,681	5,238	8.5
Bristol, Que.	M�	1,128	1,210	-6.8
North Dundas, Ont.	TP	11,225	11,095	1.2
The Nation / La Nation, Ont.	M	11,668	10,662 A E	9.4
Clarence-Rockland, Ont.	CY	23,185	20,790	11.5
Russell, Ont.	TP	15,247	13,883	9.8
Merrickville-Wolford, Ont.	VL	2,850	2,867	-0.6
North Grenville, Ont.	MU	15,085	14,198	6.2
Montague, Ont.	TP	3,483	3,209 A	8.5
Beckwith, Ont.	TP	6,986	6,387	9.4
Mississippi Mills, Ont.	T	12,385	11,734	5.5
Arnprior, Ont.	T	8,114	7,158	13.4
McNab/Braeside, Ont.	TP	7,371	7,222	2.1

Ontario – Census subdivisions with 5,000-plus population with the highest population growth

Table 2 Ontario – Census subdivisions with 5,000-plus population with the highest population growth, population change, 2006 to 2011
Census subdivision (CSD) name	CSD type	Population
Census subdivision (CSD) name	CSD type	2011	2006	% change
Milton	T	84,362	53,889 A	56.5
Whitchurch-Stouffville	T	37,628	24,390	54.3
Ajax	T	109,600	90,167	21.6
Brampton	CY	523,911	433,806	20.8
Vaughan	CY	288,301	238,866	20.7

Ontario – Census subdivisions with 5,000-plus population with the lowest population growth

Table 3 Ontario – Census subdivisions with 5,000-plus population with the lowest population growth, population change, 2006 to 2011
Census subdivision (CSD) name	CSD type	Population
Census subdivision (CSD) name	CSD type	2011	2006	% change
Thunder Bay, Unorganized	NO	5,909	6,585	-10.3
Hearst	T	5,090	5,620	-9.4
Dryden	CY	7,617	8,195	-7.1
The Blue Mountains	T	6,453	6,825	-5.5

Age and sex

Ottawa, CV – Age distribution

Chart C: Ottawa, CV - Population by broad age groups

Chart C description: Ottawa, CV - Population by broad age groups

Table 4 Ottawa, CV – Age distributions by broad age groups and sex, 2011 Census
Age groups	Both sexes	Males	Females
0 to 14	16.8%	17.6%	16.1%
15 to 64	70.0%	70.6%	69.4%
65 and over	13.2%	11.8%	14.5%

In 2011, the percentage of the population aged 65 and over in Ottawa, CV was 13.2%, compared with a national percentage of 14.8%. The percentage of the working age population (15 to 64) was 70.0% and the percentage of children aged 0 to 14 was 16.8%. In comparison, the national percentages were 68.5% for the population aged 15 to 64 and 16.7% for the population aged 0 to 14.

Ottawa, CV – Population by broad age groups and sex

Table 5 Ottawa, CV – Population by broad age groups, sex and population change between 2006 and 2011, 2006 to 2011 censuses
Broad age groups by sex	Population
Broad age groups by sex	2011	2006	change	% change
Both sexes
Total	883,395	812,130	71,265	8.8
0 to 14	148,570	142,750	5,820	4.1
15 to 64	618,235	568,515	49,720	8.7
65 and over	116,585	100,870	15,715	15.6
Males
Total	428,455	393,000	35,455	9.0
0 to 14	75,280	72,625	2,655	3.7
15 to 64	302,560	277,905	24,655	8.9
65 and over	50,620	42,470	8,150	19.2
Females
Total	454,935	419,130	35,805	8.5
0 to 14	73,295	70,120	3,175	4.5
15 to 64	315,675	290,605	25,070	8.6
65 and over	65,960	58,395	7,565	13.0

Ottawa, CV – Population by five-year age groups and sex

Chart D description: Ottawa, CV - Population by five-year age groups and sex

Table 6 Ottawa, CV – Population by five-year age groups and sex, 2011 Census
Age groups	Both sexes	Males	Females
Total - Age groups	883,395	428,455	454,935
0 to 4 years	49,140	24,925	24,215
5 to 9 years	48,760	24,660	24,100
10 to 14 years	50,665	25,690	24,980
15 to 19 years	58,310	29,675	28,630
20 to 24 years	65,965	33,100	32,865
25 to 29 years	61,230	30,185	31,045
30 to 34 years	57,740	27,670	30,070
35 to 39 years	60,360	28,765	31,600
40 to 44 years	64,285	31,215	33,070
45 to 49 years	73,190	35,935	37,255
50 to 54 years	69,010	33,595	35,415
55 to 59 years	57,735	28,035	29,700
60 to 64 years	50,410	24,385	26,025
65 to 69 years	35,860	16,935	18,930
70 to 74 years	26,805	12,360	14,445
75 to 79 years	21,275	9,545	11,730
80 to 84 years	16,305	6,600	9,705
85 years and over	16,335	5,185	11,150
Median age	39.2	38.2	40.0

Ottawa, CV – Median age¹ of the population

Chart E: Canada, Ontario and Ottawa, CV - Median age, 2006 and 2011 censuses

Chart E description: Canada, Ontario and Ottawa, CV - Median age, 2006 and 2011 censuses

In 2011, the median age in Ottawa, CV was 39.2 years. In comparison, the median age of Ontario was 40.4 years.

Table 7 Canada, Ontario and Ottawa, CV – Median age, 2006 and 2011 censuses
	Median age
	2006	2011
Canada	39.5	40.6
Ontario	39.0	40.4
Ottawa, CV	38.4	39.2

Families and households

In 2011, the number of census families² in Ottawa was 239,470, which represents a change of 7.8% from 2006. This compares to a growth rate for Canada of 5.5% over the same period.

In Ottawa, 70.9% of census families were married couples in 2011, while 13.1% were common-law-couples and 16.1% were lone-parent families.

Chart F: Ottawa - Census families by family structure

Chart F description: Ottawa - Census families by family structure

Ottawa – Family structure

Table 8 Canada, Ontario, CSD of Ottawa, CV and neighbouring census subdivisions – Distribution of census families by family structure, 2011 Census
Geographic name	Total families	Married-couple families		Common-law-couple families		Lone-parent families		% change, census families, 2006 to 2011
Geographic name	Total families	number	%	number	%	number	%	% change, census families, 2006 to 2011
Canada †	9,389,695	6,293,950	67.0	1,567,905	16.7	1,527,840	16.3	5.5
Ontario †	3,612,205	2,612,890	72.3	394,670	10.9	604,645	16.7	5.5
Ottawa, CV	239,470	169,680	70.9	31,255	13.1	38,540	16.1	7.8
Lochaber-Partie-Ouest, CT (Que.)	195	100	51.3	80	41.0	20	10.3	25.8
Gatineau, V (Que.)	74,600	38,540	51.7	21,290	28.5	14,770	19.8	7.6
Pontiac, M� (Que.)	1,725	1,055	61.2	460	26.7	210	12.2	12.4
Bristol, M� (Que.)	335	240	71.6	55	16.4	35	10.4	3.1
North Dundas, TP	3,385	2,505	74.0	475	14.0	400	11.8	5.1
The Nation / La Nation, M	3,510	2,370	67.5	755	21.5	380	10.8	9.9
Clarence-Rockland, CY	6,975	4,750	68.1	1,300	18.6	920	13.2	13.0
Russell, TP	4,515	3,355	74.3	670	14.8	485	10.7	11.6
Merrickville-Wolford, VL	855	615	71.9	135	15.8	100	11.7	4.3
North Grenville, MU	4,610	3,460	75.1	620	13.4	540	11.7	8.3
Montague, TP	1,085	795	73.3	165	15.2	125	11.5	8.5
Beckwith, TP	2,195	1,710	77.9	305	13.9	180	8.2	12.3
Mississippi Mills, T	3,735	2,830	75.8	470	12.6	440	11.8	9.2
Arnprior, T	2,290	1,515	66.2	310	13.5	465	20.3	10.1
McNab/Braeside, TP	2,325	1,790	77.0	310	13.3	225	9.7	4.7

Ottawa – Presence of children within couple families

Among couples (married and common-law) in the census subdivision of Ottawa, 49.5% were couples with children aged 24 and under at home. In comparison, as a whole, 46.9% of couples in Canada had children aged 24 and under at home.

Presence of children within couple families
* Children aged 24 and under at home
Married couples with children *	89,675
Married couples without children *	80,005
Common-law-couples with children *	9,795
Common-law-couples without children *	21,460

Ottawa – Marital status

Chart H description: Ottawa - Marital status

In Ottawa, 55.9% of the total population aged 15 and over were either married (47.4%) or living with a common-law partner (8.5%).

The remaining 44.1% were not married and not living with a common-law partner, including those who were single (never-married), separated, divorced or widowed.

Note: Percentages may not total 100 percent due to random rounding.

Table 9 Canada, Ontario, Ottawa, CV – Population 15 years and older by marital status, 2011 Census
Marital status	Ottawa, CV		Ontario		Canada
Marital status	number	%	number	%	number	%
Total - Population 15 years and over	734,820	100.0	10,671,050	100.0	27,869,345	100.0
Married or living with a common-law partner	411,110	55.9	6,158,605	57.7	16,084,490	57.7
Married (and not separated)	348,515	47.4	5,367,400	50.3	12,941,965	46.4
Living common-law	62,590	8.5	791,210	7.4	3,142,525	11.3
Not married and not living with a common-law partner	323,710	44.1	4,512,440	42.3	11,784,855	42.3
Single (never legally married)	224,340	30.5	2,985,020	28.0	7,816,045	28.0
Separated	20,630	2.8	319,805	3.0	698,245	2.5
Divorced	42,710	5.8	593,730	5.6	1,686,035	6.0
Widowed	36,025	4.9	613,880	5.8	1,584,525	5.7

Ottawa – Types of private households

There were 353,245 private households³ in Ottawa in 2011, a change of 10.0% from 2006. Of these, 27.4% of households were comprised of couples with children aged 24 and under at home, a change of 3.7% compared with five years earlier.

Table 10 Canada, Ontario, Ottawa, CV – Distribution of households by household type, 2011 Census
Household type⁴	Ottawa, CV		Ontario		Canada
Household type⁴	number	%	number	%	number	%
Total private households	353,245	100.0	4,887,505	100.0	13,320,615	100.0
Couple-family households with children aged 24 and under at home⁵	96,760	27.4	1,402,420	28.7	3,524,915	26.5
Couple-family households without children aged 24 and under at home⁶	96,790	27.4	1,408,120	28.8	3,935,540	29.5
Lone-parent family households⁷	35,775	10.1	535,825	11.0	1,375,450	10.3
One-person households	99,905	28.3	1,230,980	25.2	3,673,310	27.6
Multiple family households⁸	4,985	1.4	128,660	2.6	268,060	2.0
Other households⁹	19,025	5.4	181,500	3.7	543,340	4.1

Ottawa – Structural type of dwelling

In Ottawa, 42.9% of private households lived in single-detached houses and 18.5% lived in apartments in buildings that have five or more storeys. The rest lived in other types of dwelling structures.

Table 11 Canada, Ontario, Ottawa, CV – Distribution of private households by structural type of dwelling, 2011 Census
Structural type of dwelling	Ottawa, CV		Ontario		Canada
Structural type of dwelling	number	%	number	%	number	%
Total - Structural type of dwelling	353,245	100.0	4,887,510	100.0	13,320,615	100.0
Single-detached house	151,495	42.9	2,718,880	55.6	7,329,150	55.0
Semi-detached house	19,305	5.5	279,470	5.7	646,240	4.9
Row house	72,540	20.5	415,230	8.5	791,600	5.9
Apartment, building that has five or more storeys	65,495	18.5	789,975	16.2	1,234,770	9.3
Apartment, building that has fewer than five storeys	36,190	10.2	498,160	10.2	2,397,555	18.0
Apartment, duplex	6,845	1.9	160,460	3.3	704,485	5.3
Other single-attached house¹⁰	440	0.1	9,535	0.2	33,310	0.3
Movable dwelling¹¹	935	0.3	15,795	0.3	183,510	1.4

Language

Ottawa, CV – Mother tongue

Chart J description: Ottawa, CV - Mother tongue and language spoken most often at home

Note: Counts for mother tongue as well as those for language spoken most often at home include single responses only.

In Ottawa, 62.4% of the population reported English only as mother tongue, 14.2% reported French only, and 20.4% reported a non-official language only, in 2011. In comparison, the provincial / territorial percentages were 68.2% for English only, 3.9% for French only and 25.7% for only non-official languages.

In 2011, 74.8% of the population spoke only English most often at home, 9.9% spoke only French and 10.5% spoke only a non-official language. In comparison, the provincial / territorial percentages were 79.0% for only English, 2.2% for only French and 14.4% for only a non-official language.

Table 12 Ottawa, CV – Mother tongue and language spoken most often at home, 2011 Census
Selected languages	Mother tongue		Language spoken most often at home
Selected languages	number	%	number	%
Total	872,450	100.0	872,450	100.0
English	544,045	62.4	652,455	74.8
French	123,925	14.2	86,035	9.9
Non-official language	178,120	20.4	91,990	10.5
Multiple responses	26,360	3.0	41,965	4.8

Table 13 Ottawa, CV – Mother-tongue retention, 2011 Census
Mother tongue	Mother-tongue retention¹² (in percentage)
Mother tongue	Total retention; language spoken at home at least on a regular basis	Complete retention; language spoken most often at home	Partial retention; language spoken at home on a regular basis
Note: Counts for mother tongue and home language include single response of a language as well as multiple responses of a language with English and/or French.
English	99.4	98.6	0.9
French	83.5	64.7	18.8
Non-official language	81.2	57.7	23.5

Ottawa, CV – Non-official languages

In Ottawa, the three most common mother tongues were Arabic (3.6%), Chinese, n.o.s. (1.5%) and Spanish (1.4%), in 2011. In comparison, the most common mother tongues at the provincial / territorial level were Italian (2.1%), Chinese, n.o.s. (1.6%) and Cantonese (1.5%).

Table 14 Ottawa, CV – The most common non-official-language mother tongues, 2011 Census
Mother tongue	Number	Percentage of non-official language mother-tongue population	Percentage of total population
Note: Counts for mother tongue and home language include single response of a language as well as multiple responses of a language with English and/or French.
Arabic	31,415	16.2	3.6
Chinese, n.o.s.	13,180	6.8	1.5
Spanish	11,800	6.1	1.4
Italian	10,325	5.3	1.2
Mandarin	7,035	3.6	0.8

Ottawa, CV – Bilingualism

Table 15 Ottawa, CV – Rate of English-French bilingualism by mother tongue and age groups, 2011 Census
Age groups	Mother tongue
Age groups	Total	English	French	Non-official language
Note: Counts for mother tongue include single responses only. Consequently, the total excludes multiple responses.
Total	36.5	28.3	91.2	23.5
0 to 19	36.1	30.0	77.5	31.0
20 to 44	40.2	33.8	96.4	25.1
45 to 64	36.0	25.0	95.5	21.8
65 and over	28.3	15.7	88.4	13.5

Table 16 Ottawa, CV – Knowledge of official languages, 2011 Census
Knowledge of official languages	Number	Percentage
Total	872,450	100.0
English only	522,980	59.9
French only	12,915	1.5
English and French	324,695	37.2
Neither English nor French	11,860	1.4

Symbols:

···: not applicable
†: excludes census data for one or more incompletely enumerated Indian reserves or Indian settlements. For further information, refer to Notes.
¶: incompletely enumerated Indian reserve or Indian settlement. For further information, refer to Notes.
A: adjusted figure due to boundary change. For further information, refer to Content considerations.
E: use with caution. For further information, refer to Cautionary note.

Footnotes

Footnote 1

Median age: Age 'x' that divides a population in two groups of the same population size, one group being older than age 'x' and the other group being younger than age 'x'.

Return to footnote 1 referrer

Footnote 2

Census family: Refers to a married couple (with or without children), a common-law couple (with or without children) or a lone parent family.

Return to footnote 2 referrer

Footnote 3

Household, private: Refers to a person or a group of persons (other than foreign residents) who occupy a private dwelling and do not have a usual place of residence elsewhere in Canada.

Return to footnote 3 referrer

Footnote 4

Household type: Refers to the basic division of private households into family and non-family households. Family household refers to a household that contains at least one census family, that is, a married couple with or without children, or a couple living in common-law with or without children or a lone parent living with one or more children.

Return to footnote 4 referrer

Footnote 5

Couple-family households with children: Refers to couple households with at least one child aged 24 and under.

Return to footnote 5 referrer

Footnote 6

Couple-family households without children: Refers to couple households without children aged 24 and under. Includes couple households with all children aged 25 and over.

Return to footnote 6 referrer

Footnote 7

Lone-parent-family households: Refers to all lone-parent family households regardless of age of children.

Return to footnote 7 referrer

Footnote 8

Multiple-family households: Refers to a household in which two or more census families (with or without additional persons) occupy the same private dwelling.

Return to footnote 8 referrer

Footnote 9

Other households: Refers to two or more people who share a private dwelling, but who do not constitute a census family.

Return to footnote 9 referrer

Footnote 10

Other single-attached house: A single dwelling that is attached to another building and that does not fall into any of the other categories, such as a single dwelling attached to a non-residential structure (e.g., a store or a church) or occasionally to another residential structure (e.g., an apartment building).

Return to footnote 10 referrer

Footnote 11

Movable dwelling includes mobile homes and other movable dwellings such as houseboats and railroad cars.

Return to footnote 11 referrer

Footnote 12

Mother-tongue retention: Retention refers to the situation where people speak their mother tongue at home. Retention is defined as 'complete' when the mother tongue is the language spoken most often and 'partial' when it is spoken on a regular basis but not most often. The (complete or partial) retention rate refers to the proportion of the population with a given mother tongue that speaks that language at home most often or on a regular basis. The retention rate provides an indication of a group's linguistic vitality, particularly the importance of transmitting languages between generations.

Return to footnote 12 referrer

Source:

Statistics Canada. 2012. Focus on Geography Series, 2011 Census. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-310-XWE2011004. Ottawa, Ontario. Analytical products, 2011 Census. Last updated October 24, 2012.

Related data:

2011 Census Topic-based tabulations – Census subdivision of Ottawa, City / Ville - Ontario
2011 Census Highlight tables – Census subdivision of Ottawa, City / Ville - Ontario
2011 Census Data Navigator – Census subdivision of Ottawa, City / Ville - Ontario
2011 NHS Focus on Geography Series – Census subdivision of Ottawa, City / Ville - Ontario

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Date modified:: 2016-09-21

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Focus on Geography Series, 2011 Census