Canada 2001 Census
Encyclopedia
The Canada 2001 Census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 population. Census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

 day was May 15, 2001. On that day, Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada is the Canadian federal government agency commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. Its headquarters is in Ottawa....

 attempted to count every person in Canada. The total population count of Canada was 30,007,094. This was a 4% increase over 1996 Census
Canada 1996 Census
The Canada 1996 Census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population. Census day was May 14, 1996. On that day, Statistics Canada attempted to count every person in Canada. The total population count of Canada was 28,846,761...

 of 28,846,761. In contrast, the official Statistics Canada population estimate for 2001 was 31,021,300. This is considered a more accurate population number than the actual count.

The following census was the 2006 Census
Canada 2006 Census
The Canada 2006 Census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population. Census day was May 16, 2006. The next census following will be the 2011 Census. Canada's total population enumerated by the 2006 census was 31,612,897...

.

Canada by the numbers

A summary of information about Canada.
Total Population 30,007,094
Dwellings 12,548,588
Men 14,706,850
Women 15,300,245
Median age 37.6 years
Average earnings $ 31,757

Census summary

Canada has experienced one of the smallest census-to-census growth rates in its population. From 1996 to 2001, the nation's population increased only 4.0%. The Census counted 30,007,094 people on May 15, 2001, compared with 28,846,761 on May 14, 1996.

Only three provinces and one territory had growth rates above the national average. Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...

's population soared 10.3%, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

 gained 6.1% and British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

, 4.9%. Nunavut
Nunavut
Nunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993...

's population rose 8.1%. The population of Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...

 declined for the second consecutive census period.

Urbanization continued. In 2001, 79.4% of Canadians lived in an urban centre
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...

 of 10,000 people or more, compared with 78.5% in 1996. Outside the urban centres, the population of rural
Rural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...

 and small-town areas declined 0.4%.

In 2001, just over 64% of the nation's population, or about 19,297,000 people, lived in the 27 census metropolitan areas (CMAs), up slightly from 63% in 1996. Seven of these 27 CMAs saw their populations grow at a rate of at least double the national average. The strongest rise, by far, occurred in Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...

.

From 1996 to 2001, the nation's population concentrated further in four broad urban regions: the extended Golden Horseshoe
Golden Horseshoe
The Golden Horseshoe is a densely populated and industrialized region centred around the Greater Toronto Area at the western end of Lake Ontario in Southern Ontario, Canada, with outer boundaries stretching south to Lake Erie and north to Georgian Bay. Most of it is also part of the Quebec City...

 in southern Ontario; Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

 and environs; British Columbia's Lower Mainland
Lower Mainland
The Lower Mainland is a name commonly applied to the region surrounding and including Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. As of 2007, 2,524,113 people live in the region; sixteen of the province's thirty most populous municipalities are located there.While the term Lower Mainland has been...

 and southern Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...

; and the Calgary-Edmonton corridor. In 2001, 51% of Canada's population lived in these regions, compared with 49% in 1996.

Population by province/territory

Province 2001 Census 1996 Census % Change
 Newfoundland and Labrador 512,930 551,792 -7.0
 Prince Edward Island 135,294 134,557 0.5
 Nova Scotia 908,007 909,282
 New Brunswick 729,498 738,133
 Quebec 7,237,479 7,138,795 1.4
 Ontario 11,410,046 10,753,573 6.1
 Manitoba 1,119,583 1,113,898 0.5
 Saskatchewan 978,933 990,237
 Alberta 2,974,807 2,696,826 10.3
 British Columbia 3,907,738 3,724,500 4.9
 Yukon 28,674 30,766
 Northwest Territories 37,360 39,672 -5.8
 Nunavut 26,745 24,730 A 8.1

Mother tongue

Population by mother tongue of Canada's official languages:
Mother tongue Population
English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 
17,572,170
French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 
6,741,955
Bilingual  122,660
Other 5,202,240

Aboriginal peoples

Population of Aboriginal peoples in Canada
Aboriginal peoples in Canada
Aboriginal peoples in Canada comprise the First Nations, Inuit and Métis. The descriptors "Indian" and "Eskimo" have fallen into disuse in Canada and are commonly considered pejorative....

:
Aboriginal Population 976,305
North American Indian  608,850
Métis
Métis people (Canada)
The Métis are one of the Aboriginal peoples in Canada who trace their descent to mixed First Nations parentage. The term was historically a catch-all describing the offspring of any such union, but within generations the culture syncretised into what is today a distinct aboriginal group, with...

 
292,305
Inuit
Inuit
The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...

 
45,070

Ethnic origin

Population by ethnic origin
Ethnic origin
The concept of ethnic origin is an attempt to classify people, not according to their current nationality, but according to where their ancestors came from...

. Only those origins with more than 250,000 respondents are included here. This is based entirely on self reporting.
Ethnic origins Total responses Single responses Multiple responses 2
Total population 29,639,035 18,307,540 11,331,490
Canadian 11,682,680 6,748,135 4,934,550
English  5,978,875 1,479,520 4,499,355
French
French Canadian
French Canadian or Francophone Canadian, , generally refers to the descendents of French colonists who arrived in New France in the 17th and 18th centuries...

 
4,668,410 1,060,755 3,607,655
Scottish  4,157,210 607,235 3,549,975
Irish
Irish Canadian
Irish Canadian are immigrants and descendants of immigrants who originated in Ireland. 1.2 million Irish immigrants arrived, 1825 to 1970, at least half of those in the period from 1831-1850. By 1867, they were the second largest ethnic group , and comprised 24% of Canada's population...

 
3,822,660 496,865 3,325,800
German
German-Canadian
German Canadians are Canadians of ethnic German ancestry. The 2006 Canadian census put the number of Canadians of German ethnicity at 3,179,425. Only a small fraction of German Canadians are descendants of immigrants from what is today Germany...

 
2,742,765 705,595 2,037,170
Italian
Italian-Canadian
An Italian Canadian is a Canadian of Italian descent or heritage. According to the 2006 census of Canada, 1,445,335 Canadians consider themselves to be of Italian origin. The Italian-Canadian population climbed by more than 12% and half have combined Italian origins along with another ethnic...

 
1,270,370 726,275 544,090
Chinese
Chinese Canadian
Chinese Canadians are Canadians of Chinese descent. They constitute the second-largest visible minority group in Canada, after South Asian Canadians...

 
1,094,700 936,210 158,490
Ukrainian
Ukrainian Canadian
A Ukrainian Canadian is a person of Ukrainian descent or origin who was born in or immigrated to Canada. In 2006, there were an estimated 1,209,085 persons residing in Canada of Ukrainian origin, making them Canada's ninth largest ethnic group; and giving Canada the world's third-largest...

 
1,071,060 326,200 744,860
North American Indian
First Nations
First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...

 
1,000,890 455,805 545,085
Dutch
Dutch Canadians
According to the Canada 2006 Census, there are 1,035,965 Canadians of Dutch descent, including those of full or partial ancestry.-History:The first Dutch people to come to Canada were Dutch-Americans among the United Empire Loyalists. The largest wave was in the late nineteenth and early twentieth...

 (Netherlands)
923,310 316,220 607,090
Polish
Polish Canadians
Polish Canadians are Citizens of Canada with Polish ancestry, and Poles who immigrated to Canada from abroad. According to the 2001 census by Statistics Canada, 984,585 Canadians claim full or partial Polish ancestry.-History:...

 
817,085 260,415 556,670
African  731,044 Unknown Unknown
East Indian  713,330 581,665 131,665
Norwegian  363,760 47,230 316,530
Portuguese
Portuguese Canadians
Portuguese Canadians are both Canadians born with Portuguese descent or citizenship or Portuguese born with Canadian descent or citizenship . According to StatCan, in 2006, there were 410,850 persons of Portuguese descent living in Canada, or 1.3% of the nation's total population...

 
357,690 252,835 104,855
Welsh
Welsh Canadian
As of 2006 440,965 Canadian identify themselves as having some Welsh descent, with 27,115 of these identifying as exclusively Welsh.-The Welsh in Canada:...

 
350,365 28,445 321,925
Jewish  348,605 186,475 162,130
Russian
Russian Canadians
A Russian-Canadian is a citizen or permanent resident of Canada who is from Russia or of Russian descent.-Number of Russian Canadians:Data from this section from Statistics Canada, 2006.* Total: 500,600.* Single Response: 98,245....

 
337,960 70,890 267,070
Filipino
Filipino Canadian
Filipino Canadians are Canadians of Filipino ancestry. Filipino-Canadians are the fourth-largest subgroup of the Overseas Filipinos.Canada only had a small population of Filipinos until the late 20th century. To date, there are currently around 400,000 Filipino Canadians in Canada, most of them...

 
327,545 266,140 61,410
Métis
Métis people (Canada)
The Métis are one of the Aboriginal peoples in Canada who trace their descent to mixed First Nations parentage. The term was historically a catch-all describing the offspring of any such union, but within generations the culture syncretised into what is today a distinct aboriginal group, with...

 
307,845 72,210 235,635
Swedish
Swedish-Canadian
The term Swedish Kanuck refers to a naturalized Canadian citizen hailing from Sweden or professing Swedish descent. The 'Swedish-Canadian' community in Canada is 330,000 strong. The vast majority of them reside west of Lake Superior, primarily in Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. Toronto...

 
282,760 30,440 252,320
Hungarian
Hungarian Canadians
Hungarian-Canadians are persons in Canada of Hungarian ancestry. According to Canada 2001 Census, there are 315,510 Canadians of Hungarian ancestry. The Hungarian minority is the 23rd largest ethnic group of Canada...

 (Magyar)
267,255 91,795 175,460
American (USA) 250,010 25,200 224,805

Religion

Population by religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...

. Only those religions with more than 250,000 respondents are included here. The census question was partly aided—that is, the questionnaire form gave examples of some of the denominations but not others. The actual question asked is noted below.
Religion Total responses % of Population
Roman Catholic  12,793,125 43.2
No religion 4,796,325 16.2
United Church
United Church of Canada
The United Church of Canada is a Protestant Christian denomination in Canada. It is the largest Protestant church and, after the Roman Catholic Church, the second-largest Christian church in Canada...

 
2,839,125 9.6
Anglican  2,035,500 6.9
Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

 n.i.e.
780,450 2.6
Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...

 
729,470 2.5
Lutheran  606,590 2.0
Muslim
Islam
Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

 
579,640 2.0
Protestant n.i.e. 549,205 1.9
Presbyterian  409,830 1.4
Pentecostal  369,475 1.2
Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

 
329,995 1.1
Buddhist  300,345 1.0
Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

 
297,200 1.0
Sikh
Sikhism
Sikhism is a monotheistic religion founded during the 15th century in the Punjab region, by Guru Nanak Dev and continued to progress with ten successive Sikh Gurus . It is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world and one of the fastest-growing...

 
278,410 0.9


The actual question asked: "What is this person's religion? Indicate a specific denomination or religion even if this person is not currently a practising member of that group.

For example, Roman Catholic, Ukrainian Catholic, United Church, Anglican, Lutheran, Baptist, Coptic Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, Jewish, Islam, Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, etc."

Visible minorities

Visible minority Total responses % of Population
Chinese
Chinese Canadian
Chinese Canadians are Canadians of Chinese descent. They constitute the second-largest visible minority group in Canada, after South Asian Canadians...

 
1,029,395 3.47
South Asian  917,070 3.09
Black
Black Canadian
'Black Canadians is a designation used for people of Black African descent, who are citizens or permanent residents of Canada. The term specifically refers to Canadians with Sub-Saharan African ancestry. The majority of Black Canadians are of Caribbean origin...

 
662,215 2.23
Filipino
Filipino Canadian
Filipino Canadians are Canadians of Filipino ancestry. Filipino-Canadians are the fourth-largest subgroup of the Overseas Filipinos.Canada only had a small population of Filipinos until the late 20th century. To date, there are currently around 400,000 Filipino Canadians in Canada, most of them...

 
308,575 1.04
Others 1,066,590 3.60
Not a visible
minority
25,655,185 86.56

Age

Population by age:
Age Population
0–4 years 1,696,285
5–14 years 4,029,255
15–19 years 2,053,325
20–24 years 1,955,810
25–44 years 9,096,560
45–54 years 4,419,290
55–64 years 2,868,015
65–74 years 2,142,835
75–84 years 1,329,810
85 years and over 415,910

Methodology

Every person was legally required to return the census questionnaire that required answering basic demographic information. In addition randomly selected people were legally required to complete a much more detailed questionnaire.

On May 15, 2001, Statistics Canada had thousands of canvassers who went around to try to ensure that the entire population was counted. For the first time, this included canvassers who went to homeless shelters to ensure that the homeless were included in the census.

In addition to a small number of individuals who refused to participate, some first nation communities refused to participate en masse and therefore some of the statistics are inaccurate. This is noted as footnotes in many of the affected results.

Effects of Census

The census numbers are the basis of the federal governments transfer payments to the provinces and therefore when a province loses population, its transfer payments are decreased.

In addition, the census numbers are one of the elements that Elections Canada
Elections Canada
Elections Canada is an independent, non-partisan agency reporting directly to the Parliament of Canada. Its ongoing responsibility is to ensure that Canadians can exercise their choices in federal elections and referenda through an open and impartial process...

 uses to create the boundaries of federal ridings.

See also

  • List of population of Canada by years
  • Demographics of Canada
    Demographics of Canada
    This article about the demographic features of the population of Canada, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population, the People of Canada....

  • Ethnic groups in Canada
  • History of immigration to Canada
    History of immigration to Canada
    The history of immigration to Canada extends back thousands of years. Anthropologists continue to argue over various possible models of migration to modern day Canada, as well as their pre-contact populations. The Inuit are believed to have arrived entirely separately from other indigenous peoples...


External links

  • 2001 Census - Statistics Canada's page on the 2001 Census.
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