NHS Focus on Geography Series – Canada

Demographic characteristics of Aboriginal people

In 2011, 4.3% (1,400,685) of the population of Canada had an Aboriginal identity.^{Aboriginal Peoples Footnote 1} Of those, 60.8% (851,560) reported a First Nations identity^{Aboriginal Peoples Footnote 2} only, 32.3% (451,790) reported a Métis identity only and 4.2% (59,440) reported an Inuit identity only. An additional 26,475, or 1.9%, reported other Aboriginal identities and 11,415, or 0.8%, reported more than one Aboriginal identity.

Table 1 – Population by Aboriginal identity, Canada

In Canada, the Aboriginal population is younger than the non-Aboriginal population. In 2011, the median age of the Aboriginal population was 27.7 years compared to 40.6 for the non-Aboriginal population. The median age is the age where exactly one-half of the population is older and the other half is younger.

The median age and age distribution of First Nations people, Métis and Inuit are shown in table 2.

Table 2 – Age distribution and median age by Aboriginal identity, Canada

Living arrangements of Aboriginal children

In Canada, 49.6% of Aboriginal children aged 14 and under lived in a family^{Aboriginal Peoples Footnote 3} with both their parents (biological or adoptive) and 34.4% lived in a lone-parent family.^{Aboriginal Peoples Footnote 4} Another 8.5% were stepchildren,^{Aboriginal Peoples Footnote 5} 2.7% were grandchildren living in a skip-generation family,^{Aboriginal Peoples Footnote 6} 3.6% were foster children^{Aboriginal Peoples Footnote 7} and 1.2% were children living with other relatives.

Living arrangements of First Nations, Métis and Inuit children aged 14 and under are illustrated in table 3.

Table 3 – Percentage distribution of the population aged 14 and under by living arrangement for selected Aboriginal identity categories, Canada

Language and Aboriginal peoples

In Canada, 240,815 Aboriginal people, or 17.2% of the population who had an Aboriginal identity, responded that they were able to conduct a conversation in an Aboriginal language. In 2011, the Aboriginal languages most frequently reported by Aboriginal people were: Cree languages (95,170), Inuktitut (36,235) and Ojibway (24,770).

In 2011, 14.5% of the Aboriginal identity population reported an Aboriginal language as mother tongue, defined as the first language learned at home in childhood and still understood.

As well, 14.0% of Aboriginal people reported speaking an Aboriginal language at home: 8.5% spoke it most often while another 5.5% spoke it on a regular basis.

Linguistic characteristics of First Nations people, Métis and Inuit are shown in tables 4 to 6.

Table 4 – Number and proportion of Aboriginal identity population, First Nations people, Métis and Inuit for selected Aboriginal language indicators, Canada

In Canada, 88.7% of the Aboriginal identity population reported that they were able to conduct a conversation only in English or only in French. Additionally, 10.5% of Aboriginal people reported that they were able to conduct a conversation in both of Canada's official languages. The other 0.8%, or 10,655, reported that they were not able to conduct a conversation in either of these two languages.

Table 5 – Percentage distribution of the population by knowledge of official languages for selected Aboriginal identity categories, Canada

In Canada, among the 240,815 Aboriginal people who reported being able to conduct a conversation in an Aboriginal language, 78.3% reported that same language as their mother tongue. The other 21.7% reported a different language, such as English or French, as mother tongue, which suggests these individuals have acquired an Aboriginal language as a second language.

On the other hand, among the 202,495 Aboriginal people who reported an Aboriginal language as mother tongue, 6.9% could no longer conduct a conversation in this language, despite the fact that they still understand it.

Table 6 – Population who reported an ability to conduct a conversation in an Aboriginal language that is not their mother tongue and population who reported an Aboriginal mother tongue but who could not conduct a conversation in that language, for selected Aboriginal identity categories, Canada

Immigrant population

According to the 2011 National Household Survey (NHS), 6,775,765 (20.6%) of the population of Canada were foreign-born (immigrants), 25,720,170 (78.3%) were Canadian-born (non-immigrants) and 356,385 (1.1%) were non-permanent residents.^{Ethnocultural Footnote 1}

Figure 1 Percentage of Canadian born (non-immigrants), foreign born (immigrants) and non permanent residents in Canada

Figure 1 Percentage of Canadian born (non-immigrants), foreign born (immigrants) and non permanent residents in Canada

Of the immigrants living in Canada in 2011, 1,162,915 came between 2006 and 2011. These recent immigrants made up 17.2% of the immigrant population of Canada.

The three most common countries of birth of immigrants living in Canada were: India (accounting for 8.1% of the immigrant population), China (8.1%), and United Kingdom (7.9%).

Table 1 – Immigrants by country of birth, Canada

In 2011, among Canada's immigrant population, 57.3% spoke English and/or French most often at home. Meanwhile, the three most frequently reported non-official languages spoken most often at home by immigrants in Canada were Cantonese, Panjabi (Punjabi) and Chinese, n.o.s..^{Ethnocultural Footnote 2}

Table 2 – Immigrants by non-official languages spoken most often at home, Canada

The median age of immigrants in Canada was 47.4 years in 2011.

Visible minority population and ethnic origins

The 2011 NHS estimated that 6,264,750 individuals in Canada belonged to a visible minority group, accounting for 19.1% of its total population.^{Ethnocultural Footnote 1}

The three largest visible minority groups living in Canada were South Asian, Chinese and Black.

The median age of the visible minority population in Canada was 33.4 years in 2011.

Table 3 – Population showing visible minority groups, Canada

The three most frequently reported ethnic origins in Canada, for people reporting either one or multiple ethnic origins, were Canadian, English and French.

Table 4 – Most frequently reported ethnic origins, Canada

Religion

According to the 2011 NHS, 76.1% of the population of Canada reported a religious affiliation, while 23.9% said they had no religious affiliation.^{Ethnocultural Footnote 1}

The most frequently reported religious affiliation in Canada was Roman Catholic, reported by 12,728,880 (38.7%) of the population. Other frequently reported religions included: United Church (6.1%) and Anglican (5.0%).

Table 5 – Most frequently reported religions, Canada

Educational attainment ^{Education Footnote 1}

In 2011, 59.6% of the 22,935,460 Canadian adults aged 25 and over had completed some form of postsecondary education. Of the population aged 25 and over, 28.1% had a university certificate or degree. An additional 19.6% had a college diploma and 12.0% had a trades certificate.

The share of the adult population that had completed a high school diploma as their highest level of educational attainment was 23.1%, and 17.3% had completed neither high school nor any postsecondary certificates, diplomas or degrees.

Table 1 – Population aged 25 and over by highest level of educational attainment^{Education Footnote 1}, Canada

Overall, successive generations of Canadians have been completing high school and attaining postsecondary qualifications in increasing proportions. In 2011, 41.7% of Canadians aged 65 years and over had a postsecondary credential; this compares with 69.5% among adults between the ages of 25 and 44. As well, 35.7% of those aged 65 years and over had not completed any certificate, diploma or degree compared with 9.5% of individuals aged 25 to 44.

Canada – Proportion of the population aged 25 years and over by level of educational attainment and age groups

Canada – Proportion of the population aged 25 years and over by level of educational attainment and age groups

Major field of study

Table 2 – Most common fields of study^{Education Footnote 9} for the population aged 25 years and over with postsecondary qualifications by level of educational attainment^{Education Footnote 1}, Canada

Location of study^{Education Footnote 11}

In 2011, there were 13,678,765 Canadians aged 25 years and over with postsecondary credentials. Of these graduates, 72.5% had studied in the same province or territory in which they lived in 2011, 10.4% had studied in another province or territory and 17.1% had studied outside Canada.

In all provinces, individuals with trades or college certificates were more likely than those with university credentials to have earned their highest certificate, diploma or degree in the province in which they lived in 2011.

Table 3 – Population aged 25 years and over with postsecondary qualifications by location of study and by level of educational attainment, Canada

Labour

In Canada, 16,595,035 people were employed and 1,395,050 were unemployed for a total labour force of 17,990,080 in May 2011. The employment rate was at 60.9% and the unemployment rate was at 7.8%.

Table 1 Total population aged 15 years and over by labour force status, Canada

Within Canada, 13.1% of the employed labour force was aged 15 to 24 and 15.3% was aged 55 to 64.

Table 2 Employed labour force by age groups, Canada

Within Canada, the top occupations were Retail salespersons, Retail and wholesale trade managers and Administrative assistants.

Table 3 Top occupations for the employed labour force, Canada

Within Canada, the top industries were Elementary and secondary schools, Hospitals and Grocery stores.

Table 4 Top industries for the employed labour force, Canada

The number of self-employed in Canada amounted to 1,874,695 or 11.3% of all total employed workers.

Table 5 Employed labour force by class of workers, Canada

In 2011, 12.0% of commuters within Canada used public transit to get to work. 74.0% of the population used a car, truck or van as a driver, while 5.6% used a car, truck or van as a passenger. The average commuting time to work in Canada was 25.4 minutes.

Within Canada, 81.5% of the employed labour force aged 15 years and over worked at their usual place, 6.9% worked at home and 11.3% had no fixed workplace address.

Table 6 Employed labour force by mode of transportation, Canada

Table 7 Average commuting duration for the employed labour force, Canada

Table 8 Employed Labour force by time leaving for work, Canada

Table 9 Employed labour force by place of work status, Canada

In Canada, 76.4% (14,622,905) of the population aged 15 years and over who worked in 2010 or 2011 reported English only as the language used most often at work, 20.0% (3,831,535) reported French only and 1.7% (317,135) said they used both official languages (English and French) equally. In addition, 0.6% of the population aged 15 years and over who worked in 2010 or 2011 reported using an official language and a non-official language equally most often at work and 1.3% a non-official language only.

Furthermore, 6.0% (1,148,980) of the population aged 15 years and over who worked in 2010 or 2011 reported working in English on a regular basis, 3.4% (645,075) in French on a regular basis and 0.0% (1,925) in the country's two official languages on a regular basis. In addition, 0.2% (34,290) of the population aged 15 years and over who worked in 2010 or 2011 reported using an official language and a non-official language on a regular basis at work and 2.2% (411,735) a non-official language only.

Table 10 Languages used at work, Canada

In Canada, the non-official languages most used, most often or regularly, with or without an official language, are Chinese languages, Spanish and Panjabi (Punjabi), which account respectively for 1.2% (224,195), 0.4% (82,050) and 0.4% (71,430) of the population aged 15 years and over who worked in 2010 or 2011.

Table 11 Non-official languages used at work, Canada

Income composition

The total income for the population in private households can be broken down into two basic components: market income^{Income Footnote 1} and government transfers.^{Income Footnote 2} In Canada, 87.6% of total income was from market income in 2010 and 12.4% was from government transfers. (Aggregate total income for Canada was 1.1 trillion dollars in 2010).

Figure 1 Income composition for the population in private households in 2010

Income composition for the population in private households in 2010

Market income's main component was employment income. In Canada, it accounted for $85.20 of every $100 of market income.

For the two components of employment income, wages and salaries represented $80.20, and net income from self-employment, $5.00.

The other components of market income were smaller than employment income: in Canada, investment income represented $5.30 per $100 of market income, retirement income, $7.60 and $1.90 came from other private sources.

The government transfers received in Canada were Canada Pension Plan or Quebec Pension Plan with $28.00 of every $100 of total government transfers received, Old Age Security (OAS) pension and Guaranteed Income Supplement ($24.80), Other income from government sources ($20.60), Employment Insurance benefits ($14.10), and Child benefits ($12.40).

Table 1 – Income composition for the population in private households in 2010, Canada

High total income

Among the Canadian population in private households aged 15 years and over, 10% had total incomes of more than $80,400 in 2010. To be in the top 5%, Canadians needed to have a total income of slightly above $102,300 and to be in the top 1% required just over $191,100, nearly seven times the national median income of $27,800.^{Income Footnote 3}

The top 10% of Canadians made an average income of $134,900, with the top 5% making one third more ($179,800) and the top 1% almost three times that amount ($381,300). Meanwhile, the average income of all Canadians was $38,700.^{Income Footnote 3}

A national map showing the spatial distribution of persons with total income in the top five percent is also available. Canada. Percentage of population in top five percent of total income in 2010 by 2011 census division (CD)

Employment income

Of those persons with employment income in Canada, 50.3% worked full year, full time^{Income Footnote 4} in 2010. The median employment income was $47,868 for these workers.

The top three most common occupations for those working full-year full-time in 2010 in Canada were Retail and wholesale trade managers; Retail salespersons; and Administrative assistants.

Table 2 – Median earnings of the most common full-year, full-time occupations in 2010, Canada

Family income

The median after-tax income of economic families in Canada in 2010 was $67,044, the median for couple families was $72,356; and for lone-parent families, $42,401. For persons not in economic families (persons living alone or with non relatives only), the median after-tax income was $25,761.

Table 3 – Median after-tax income in 2010 for economic families and persons not in economic families, Canada

Figure 2 Median after-tax income in 2010 for Canada

Median after-tax income in 2010 for Canada

Low income^{Income Footnote 6}

In the NHS, a relative measure is used to classify persons by income status: the low-income measure based on after-tax income (LIM-AT). For this measure, the income threshold is half the Canadian median of after-tax household income. The income has been adjusted to account for household size. Persons in households with a household income below this threshold^{Income Footnote 7} were considered to be in low income.

The proportion of the population in low income in Canada was 14.9%. For persons under 18, the rate was higher (17.3%) and for the population aged 65 years and over, it was lower at 13.4%.

Table 4 – Income status based on after-tax low-income measure (LIM-AT) in 2010, Canada

A series of maps showing the proportion of the population in low income for each of the regions is also available:

• Atlantic Region. Percentage of the population below after-tax low-income measure in 2010 by 2011 census subdivision (CSD).
• Quebec Region. Percentage of the population below after-tax low-income measure in 2010 by 2011 census subdivision (CSD).
• Ontario Region. Percentage of the population below after-tax low-income measure in 2010 by 2011 census subdivision (CSD).
• Prairies Region. Percentage of the population below after-tax low-income measure in 2010 by 2011 census subdivision (CSD).
• British Columbia Region. Percentage of the population below after-tax low-income measure in 2010 by 2011 census subdivision (CSD).

Housing

The number of households in Canada was 13,319,250. The homeownership rate^{Housing Footnote 1} in Canada was 69.0%. The census metropolitan areas (CMAs) with the highest homeownership rates were Oshawa (79.6%), Barrie (79.3%) and Kelowna (76.2%). The CMAs with the lowest homeownership rates were Sherbrooke (54.9%), Montréal (55.0%) and Trois-Rivières (58.0%).

Table 1 – Homeownership rate rank, Canada and census metropolitan areas

Affordability^{Housing Footnote 2}

Households in Canada that paid 30% or more of household total income toward shelter costs represented 25.2% of non-farm, non-reserve households with total income greater than zero. The average monthly shelter cost was $1,050.

The CMAs with the highest proportion of households that paid 30% or more of total income towards shelter cost were Vancouver (33.5%), Toronto (31.8%), Victoria (31.1%) and Kelowna (31.0%). The CMAs with the lowest proportion were Saguenay (18.9%), Thunder Bay (19.1%) and Québec (20.1%). The average shelter cost for the CMA with the highest proportion exceeding the affordability threshold was $1,294 for Vancouver. The average shelter cost for the CMA with the lowest proportion exceeding the affordability threshold was $730 for Saguenay.

Table 2 – Housing affordability, for non-farm and non-reserve households, Canada and census metropolitan areas

Need for major repairs^{Housing Footnote 3}

In Canada, 7.4% of households in Canada reported living in dwellings that required major repairs. The CMAs with the highest proportion of households reporting major repairs requirements were Winnipeg (9.2%), Regina (9.1%) and Saint John (9.1%). The CMAs with the lowest proportion were Barrie (4.5%), Kelowna (4.6%) and Guelph (5.1%).

Table 3 – Need for major repairs, Canada and census metropolitan areas

Suitability

In Canada, 6.0% of households in Canada lived in dwellings that were not suitable; that is, the dwelling was crowded because there were not enough bedrooms based on the National Occupancy Standard.^{Housing Footnote 4} The CMAs with the highest proportion of households in dwellings that were not suitable were Toronto (11.2%), Vancouver (9.3%) and Winnipeg (7.4%). The CMAs with the lowest proportion were Saguenay (2.1%), Trois-Rivières (2.4%) and Moncton (2.6%).

Table 4 – Housing suitability, Canada and census metropolitan areas

Condominium

In Canada, there were 1,615,485 households in dwellings that were part of a condominium development. Most condominiums were located in a few CMAs. The ten CMAs with the highest number of condominium dwellings represented 76.8% of all condominium dwellings in Canada. The most condominium dwellings were in Toronto (23.0%), followed by Vancouver (17.3%).

Table 5 – Condominium dwellings, Canada and the ten census metropolitan areas with the highest number of condominium dwellings

Related data

• 2011 NHS Profile – Canada
• 2011 NHS Data Tables – Canada
  • Aboriginal Peoples
  • Immigration and Ethnocultural Diversity
  • Mobility and Migration
  • Education and Labour
  • Income and Housing