“In recent decades, there has been a gradual decline in the share of single-family households with no additional people,” the media release said. “Alternatives such as living alone, with roommates or with extended family members have grown in popularity.”
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Households made up of unrelated roommates still account for only 4% of households — but they are also the fastest growing household category in Canada. The 663,835 roommate households reported in the new census represent a 54 per cent increase between 2001 and 2021 and a 14 per cent increase from 2016. Statistics Canada said challenges related to finding and paying for housing contributed to this shift in composition of households. The number of multi-generational or multi-family dwellings has increased by 45 per cent since 2001 and now accounts for 7 per cent of all households in Canada. After an upward trend over the past 20 years, the number of young adults aged 20 to 34 living with at least one parent remained stable in 2021 at 35%, the same level as in 2016. While the number of young adults living with parents was highest in major urban centers such as Oshawa, Toronto, Windsor and Hamilton — where nearly half of 20- to 34-year-olds lived with at least one parent — their share of households in cities decreased slightly. The number of 20- to 34-year-olds living with at least one parent fell by 3 percent in Vancouver and by 1 percent in Montreal and Toronto. Statistics Canada said the change could have been caused by young adults moving to smaller communities during the pandemic.
The number of single-person households is increasing
Continuing an established trend, Statistics Canada reported that the number of Canadians living alone will reach an all-time high of 4.4 million in 2021, up from 1.7 million in 1981. In 1941 only 6% of Canadians lived alone. By 2016, single-person households had become the dominant household type, accounting for 28 percent of the total. The number of single-person households increased again in 2021, to 29%. Couples with children make up 25.3 percent of households, while couples without children make up 25.6 percent of households. Single-parent families account for 8.7 percent of households. While the number of Canadians living alone is now at a record high, Canada has a relatively small number of one-person households compared to other wealthy countries. All other G7 countries except the US have more single-person households than Canada. Statistics Canada said the increase in one-person households will affect the housing market over time. Nearly six in ten one-person households are in apartments, while 61 percent of households with two or more people live in single-family homes.
The changing face of couples
The number of Canadians who are part of a couple has remained virtually unchanged over the past 100 years. 57 per cent of Canadians said they were in a couple in 2021, compared to 58 per cent in 1921. But the nature of these relationships has changed. Canada now has the highest proportion of citizens in common-law relationships in the G7 – 23 per cent – while 77 per cent of Canadians in couples report being married. The share of couples in common-law agreements is 21 percent in the UK, 18 percent in France, 12 percent in the US and just 10 percent in Italy. The number of cohabiting couples in Canada increased by 447 percent between 1981 and 2021, while the number of married couples increased by only 26 percent over the same period. Common law living has become the norm for adults aged 20 to 24. 79 percent of people in this age group report being part of a common-law couple. The trend is also increasing among older Canadians, with 16 per cent of Canadians aged 55 to 69 living in common law in 2021, compared to just 13 per cent in 2016. Statistics Canada says this trend is largely driven by the province of Quebec, where 43 per cent of couples live together. Take Quebec out of the equation, and the percentage of Canadian couples living common-law falls to 17 percent in 2021.
Gender diversity
Statistics Canada collected data on gender diversity for the first time in the 2021 census. It found that 98.5 per cent of Canada’s 8.6 million couples consisted of a man and a woman who both identified with their gender at birth. Another 1.1 percent identified as same-sex couples—two men or two women. Transgender or non-binary couples, in which at least one member was trans or non-binary, accounted for the final 0.4 percent of couples. The census found that nearly 80 percent of same-sex couples with children consist of two women. “In 74 percent of stepfamilies made up of same-sex, transgender, or non-binary couples, all children in the family were the biological or adopted child of a single spouse or partner of the couple,” the release said.
A look at the Canadian Forces
Statistics Canada also took its first look at Canada’s military in 50 years and asked whether Canadians were active duty members serving in the regular or main reserve forces. The census found that, as of spring 2021, there were 97,625 Canadians in the Canadian Armed Forces and another 461,240 counted as veterans. Of those veterans, 32 per cent were still young enough to fit into the prime working age group of Canadians aged 25 to 54, while 41.8 per cent of veterans were over 65. The census found that only one in five serving members were women — 19.3 per cent, compared to 47.3 per cent of women who make up Canada’s civilian workforce. Canada is still among the five countries with the highest percentage of women serving in the military (the others are Hungary, Greece, the US and Bulgaria).
