Population of Canada

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Historical population of Canada since confederation, 1867–2009

The historical growth of Canada's population is complex and has been influenced in many different ways, such as indigenous populations, expansion of territory, and human migration. Being a new world country, Canada has been predisposed to be a very open society with regards to immigration, which has been the most important factor in its historical population growth.[1] Canadians comprise about 0.5% of the world's total population.[2] An estimate in 2014 had the population at 35,344,962.[3]

Despite the fact that Canada's population density is low, many regions in the south such as Southern Ontario, have population densities higher than several European countries. The large size of Canada's north which is not arable, and thus cannot support large human populations, significantly lowers the carrying capacity. Therefore, the population density of the habitable land in Canada can be modest to high depending on the region.

Population of Canada broken out by Province and Territory as of July 2013. Data provided by Stats Canada (www.statcan.gc.ca)

Historical population overview

Aboriginals

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National Aboriginal Populations
(2011 National Household Survey)[4]

  First Nations (61%)
  Métis (32%)
  Inuit (4%)
  Multiple and non-Canadian North American aboriginals (3%)

Scholars vary on the estimated size of the aboriginal population in what is now Canada prior to colonization and on the effects of European contact.[5] During the late 15th century is estimated to have been between 200,000[6] and two million,[7] with a figure of 500,000 currently accepted by Canada's Royal Commission on Aboriginal Health.[8] Although not without conflict, European Canadians' early interactions with First Nations and Inuit populations were relatively peaceful.[9] However repeated outbreaks of European infectious diseases such as influenza, measles and smallpox (to which they had no natural immunity),[10] combined with other effects of European contact, resulted in a twenty-five percent to eighty percent Aboriginal population decrease post-contact.[6] Roland G Robertson suggests that during the late 1630s, smallpox killed over half of the Wyandot (Huron), who controlled most of the early North American fur trade in the area of New France.[11] In 1871 there was an enumeration of the aboriginal population within the limits of Canada at the time, showing a total of only 102,358 individuals.[12] According to the 2011 Canadian Census, Aboriginal peoples (First Nations - 851,560, Inuit - 59,445 and Métis - 451,795) numbered at 1,400,685, or 4.3% of the country's total population.[13]

New France

The European population grew slowly under French rule,[14] thus remained relatively low as growth was largely achieved through natural births, rather than by immigration.[15] Most of the French were farmers, and the rate of population growth among the settlers themselves was very high.[16] The women had about 30 per cent more children than comparable women who remained in France.[17] Yves Landry says, "Canadians had an exceptional diet for their time."[17] The 1666 census of New France was the first census conducted in North America.[18] It was organized by Jean Talon, the first Intendant of New France, between 1665 and 1666.[18] According to Talon's census there were 3,215 people in New France, comprising 538 separate families.[19] The census showed a great difference in the number of men at 2,034 versus 1,181 women.[19] By the early 1700s the New France settlers were well established along the Saint Lawrence River and Acadian Peninsula with a population around 15,000 to 16,000.[20] Mainly due to natural increase and modest immigration from Northwest France (Brittany, Normandy, Île-de-France, Poitou-Charentes and Pays de la Loire) the population of New France increased to 55,000 according to the last French census of 1754.[21] This was an increases from 42,701 in 1730.[22]

British Canada

Distribution of the population in Canada for the years 1851, 1871, 1901, 1921 and 1941

During the late 18th and early 19th century Canada under British rule experienced strong population growth. In the wake of the 1775 invasion of Canada by the newly formed Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, approximately 50,000 of the 70,000 United Empire Loyalists fled to British North America, a large portion of whom migrated to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick (separated from Nova Scotia) in 1784: 20,000 to Nova Scotia and 14,000 to New Brunswick. The remainder went to England and the Caribbean. An additional 30,000 Americans, called "Late Loyalists," were lured into Ontario in the 1790s by the promise of land and swearing loyalty to the Crown.[23] Lower Canada's population had reached approximately 553,000, with Upper Canada reaching about 237,000 individuals by 1831.[24] The Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s had significantly increased the pace of Irish immigration to Prince Edward Island and the Province of Canada, peaking in 1847 with 100,000 distressed individuals.[25] By 1851, the population of the Maritime colonies also reached roughly 533,000 (277,000 in Nova Scotia, 194,000 in New Brunswick and 62,000 in Prince Edward Island).[26] To the west British Columbia had about 55,000 individuals by 1851.[26] Beginning in the late 1850s, the immigration of Chinese into the Colony of Vancouver Island and Colony of British Columbia peaked with the onset of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush.[27] By 1861, as a result of natural births and the Great Migration of Canada from the British Isles, the Province of Canada population increased to 2.5 million inhabitants.[26] Newfoundland's population by 1861 reached approximately 125,000 individuals.[26]

Post-confederation

The population has increased every year since the establishment of the Dominion of Canada in 1867; however, the population of Newfoundland was not included in post-confederation tallies prior to its entry into confederation as Canada's tenth province in 1949.[28][29] The first national census of the country was taken in 1871, with a population count around 3,689,000.[30] The year with the least population growth (in real terms) was 1882–1883, when only 30,000 new individuals were enumerated.[29]

Births and immigration in Canada from 1850 to 2000

The 1911 census was a detailed enumeration of the population showing a count of 7,206,643 individuals.[31] This was an increase of 34% over the 1901 census of 5,371,315.[32] The year with the most population growth was during the peak of the Post-World War II baby boom in 1956–1957, when the population grew by over 529,000, in a single twelve-month period.[29] The Canadian baby boom defined from 1947 to 1966, saw more than 400,000 babies born.[33] The 1996 census attempted to count every person in the country, totaling a population count of 28,846,761.[34] This was a 5.7% increase over the 1991 census of 27,296,859.[34] The 2001 census had a total population count of 30,007,094.[35] In contrast, the official Statistics Canada population estimate for 2001 was 31,021,300.[36]

Canada's total population enumerated by the 2006 census was 31,612,897.[37] This count was lower than the official 1 July 2006 population estimate of 32,623,490 people.[37] Ninety-percent of the population growth between 2001 and 2006 was concentrated in the main metropolitan areas.[38] The 2011 census was the fifteenth decennial census with a total population count of 33,476,688 up 5.9% from 2006. On average, censuses have been taken every five years since 1905. Censuses are required to be taken at least every ten years as mandated in section 8 of the Constitution Act, 1867.[39]

Components of population growth

Canada's current annual population growth rate is 1.238%, or a daily increase of 1,137 individuals.[29] Between 1867 and 2009 Canada's population grew by 979%.[29] It will have taken 144 years to do so. Canada had the highest net migration rate (0.61%) of all G-8 member countries between 1994 and 2004.[29] Natural growth accounts for an annual increase of 137,626 persons, at a yearly rate of 0.413%.[29] Between 2001 and 2006, there were 1,446,080 immigrants and 237,418 emigrants, resulting in a net migration of just over 1.2 million persons.[29] Since 2001, immigration has ranged between 221,352 and 262,236 immigrants per annum.[40]

Population by years

Prior to Canadian confederation in 1867 the population counts reflected only the former colonies and settlements and not the country to be as a whole with Aboriginal nations separated.[41]

Ephemeral European settlements

Year Area/colony Population Notes[42]
1000 L'Anse aux Meadows
(Newfoundland)
30 to 160 Archaeological evidence of a short-lived Norse settlement was found a L'Anse aux Meadows, on the northernmost tip of the island of Newfoundland (carbon dating estimate 990 - 1050 CE.[43]) There is no record of how many men and women lived at the site at any given time, however archaeological evidence of the dwellings suggest it had the capacity of supporting 30 to 160 individuals.[44]
1541 Cap-Rouge
(Quebec City)
400 Jacques Cartier established Charlesbourg-Royal at Cap-Rouge on his third voyage. Even though scurvy was cured through the aboriginal remedy (Thuja occidentalis infusion), the impression left is of a general misery with the effort being abandoned.[45] During the winter 35 of Cartier’s men would perish.[45]
1543 Cap-Rouge
(Quebec City)
200 In 1542, Jean-François Roberval tried to re-invigorate the Charlesbourg-Royal colony at Cap-Rouge which Roberval renamed France-Roy, however after a set of disastrous winters the effort was abandoned.[46] En route to Charlesbourg-Royal, Roberval had abandoned his near-relative Marguerite de La Rocque with her lover on the "Isle of Demons" (now called Harrington Island), in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, as punishment for their affair.[47] The young man, their servant and baby died, but Marguerite survived to be rescued by fishermen and returned to France 2 years latter.[47]
1583 St. John Bay
(Newfoundland)
260 Humphrey Gilbert with 260 men planned a settlement, however during exploration of the coast line a ship was lost containing many of the prospective colonists and their provisions.[48]
1598 Sable Island
(Nova Scotia)
50 Marquis de La Roche-Mesgouez and 40 convicts (peasants and beggars) with 10 soldiers settled on Sable Island, but this colonization attempt failed, culminating in a revolt with only 11 survivors evacuated.[49][50]
1600 Tadoussac
(Quebec)
16 François Gravé Du Pont with 16 men built a fur trading post at Tadoussac; however, only five of the men survived the winter returning to France.[50]
1604 Saint Croix
(Maine)
79 The St. Croix settlement of Maine was the first real attempt at a year round base of operation in New France. The expedition was led by Pierre Du Gua de Monts with 79 settlers including François Gravé Du Pont, Royal cartographer Samuel de Champlain, the Baron de Poutrincourt, apothecary Louis Hébert, a priest Nicolas Aubry, and Mathieu de Costa a linguist.[51] The St. Croix settlement was abandoned the following summer for a new habitation at Port-Royal after 35 died of scurvy.[52]

Former colonies and territories

17th century

Year Area/colony Population [53][54] Notes[41]
1605 Port Royal
(Nova Scotia)
44 The 44 colonist are surviving members of 79 from the now abandoned St. Croix settlement of Maine.[50] However, the habitation at Port-Royal was also abandoned and left in the care of the local Mi'kmaq.[52] The settlement was later moved upstream and to the south bank of the Annapolis River, keeping the name Port-Royal and becoming the capital of Acadia.[55]
1608 Quebec City 28 Samuel de Champlain established the colony with 28 settlers.[50] Half of the men that wintered the first year died of scurvy or starvation.[56] Nevertheless, new settlers arrived resulting in Quebec City being the first permanent settlement also becoming the capital of Canada (New France).
1610 Cuper's Cove
(Newfoundland)
40 The Newfoundland Colony was established by John Guy his brother Phillip and his brother-in-law William Colston with 39 colonists who spend the winter of 1610–1611 at Cuper's Cove.[57] By the fall of 1613 sixteen structures were completed by 60 plus settlers on the site.[58][59] As England tried to create a foothold in the north, other settlements were established at Bristol's Hope, Renews, New Cambriol, South Falkland and Avalon, an area that became known as the English Shore. However the majority of the population did not stay year round returning in the spring of each year. Over the next 100 years the English colonies of Newfoundland grew very slowly with only 3,000 permanent residents by the 1720s.[60]
1629 Quebec city 117 90 wintering belonged to Kirke's English Expedition that had captured the city.[61] Under brief British control the city began to grow and be fortified.[62] Prior to 1632 only eight births were recorded among the 60 to 70 permanent European settlers.[62][63] The first European child born in Quebec had been Hélène Desportes, in 1620.[64]
1641 New France 240 De facto population of Canada (New France) and Acadia now situated partly in the United States of America and partly in Canada.[63]
1642 Fort Ville-Marie
(Old Montreal)
50 New colony with the majority of immigrants coming directly from France led by Paul de Chomedey and Jeanne Mance, a lay woman.[65]
1666 Canada (New France) 3,215 The 1660s marked the only real "wave" of French settlers arriving until the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713.[66] Following the initial wave of French settlers natural growth was the main contributing factor to population growth.[62] Quebec city 2,100, Trois-Rivieres 455, Montreal 655. (Comprising 528 families with 2,034 men and 1,181 women. Professionals included 3 notaries, 3 schoolmasters, 3 locksmiths, 4 bailiffs, 5 surgeons, 5 bakers, 8 barrel makers, 9 millers, 18 official merchants, 27 joiners, and 36 carpenters.)[41]
1677 Aboriginal
Nations
10,750 Estimated Aboriginal population in and around New France territory 10,750, including 2,150 warriors. (Mohawks 5 villages, 96 lodges, 300 warriors - Oneidas 1 village, 100 lodges, 200 warriors - Onondagas 2 villages, 164 lodges, 350 warriors - Cayugas 3 villages, 100 lodges, 300 warriors - Senecas 4 villages, 324 lodges, 1,000 warriors).[12]
1679 Acadia 515 Majority are French subjects from Pleumartin and Poitiers of west-central France the Vienne region.
1681 New France 9,677 New France saw new settlements develop resulting in the loss of inhabitants from Quebec City 1,345 and Trois-Rivières 150 with Montreal gaining influence with a populace reaching 1,418.[41]
1687 Newfoundland 663 French population only.
1695 New France 13,639 Population of Saint John River New Brunswick 49.
1698 New France 15,355 English population of Newfoundland at the time 1,500.

18th century

Year Area/colony Population [54][67] Notes[41]
1705 Newfoundland 520 French population only
1706 New France 16,417 Covering territory that is now situated partly in the United States of America and partly in Canada.
1712 New France 18,440 Married - men 2,786, women 2,588. Unmarried - males 6,716, females 6,350.[41]
1718 New France 22,983 Married - men 3,662, women 3,926. Unmarried - males 7,911, females 7,484.[41]
1720 St.John Island
(Prince Edward Island)
100 17 families
1730 New France 33,682 Married - men 6,050, women 5,728. Unmarried - males 11,314, females 10,590.[41]
1736 Aboriginal
Nations
17,575 Estimated population of First Nations in New France that are now within Canada - Abenakis 2,950 - Algonquins, Ottawas, Potawatomi, Saulteaux and Crees 11,475 - Wyandot-Huron 1,300 - Iroquois 1,850.[12]
1737 New France 39,970 Married - men 7,378, women 6,804. Unmarried - males 13,330, females 12,458.[41]
1741 Newfoundland 6,000 English population only.
1749 Nova Scotia 2,544 Married - men, 509 ; women 509. Unmarried - men, 660 ; women, 3. Children-boys, 228 ; girls, 216. Servants-men, 277 ; women, 142.[41]
1749 Île-Royale
(Cape Breton)
1,000 French population only.
1749 Acadian Mainland (New Brunswick) 1,000 French population only.
1749 Acadian Peninsula 13,000 French population only.
1749 St. John Island
(Prince Edward Island)
1,000 French population only.
1752 Acadia (non-French) 4,203 British and German population only. Men over sixteen years old, 574 ; women over sixteen years old, 607. Children boys, 1,899 ; children girls, 1,123.
1760 New France 70,000 Expulsion of the Acadians was accruing with 12.000 to 18,000 or three—quarters of the Acadian population forcibly relocated between 1755 to 1764.[68]
1765 Province of Quebec (1763–91) 69,810 French and English populations.
1775 Province of Quebec (1763–91) 90,000 French and English populations.
1785 Newfoundland 10,244 French and English populations.
1790 Nova Scotia 30,000 French and English populations.
1797 St. John Island
(Prince Edward Island)
4,500 French and English populations.

19th century

Year Area/Province Population [69]
1806 New Brunswick 35,000
1806 Prince Edward Island 9,676
1806 Upper Canada 70,718
1806 Lower Canada 250,000
1806 Newfoundland 26,505
1807 Nova Scotia 65,000
1822 Prince Edward Island 24,600
1823 Newfoundland 52,157
1824 Upper Canada 150,066
1824 New Brunswick 74,176
1825 Upper Canada 157,923
1825 Lower Canada 479,288
1831 Lower Canada 553,134
1832 Upper Canada 263,554
1832 Newfoundland 59,280
1833 Prince Edward Island 32,292
1844 Lower Canada 697,084
1845 Newfoundland 96,295
1846 Assiniboia (North-West Territories) 4,871
1848 Upper Canada 725,879
1861 Colony of Vancouver Island 3,024
1869 Newfoundland 146,536
1871 British Columbia 36,247
1871 Manitoba 25,228
1871 Ontario 1,620,851
1871 Quebec 1,191,516
1871 New Brunswick 285,594
1871 Nova Scotia 387,800
1871 Prince Edward Island 94,021
1871 Northwest Territories 48,000
Year Canada as a whole Population Provinces/Area[12]
1871 Aboriginals 102,358 Prince Edward Island 323 - Nova Scotia 1,666 - New Brunswick 1,403 - Quebec 6,988 - Ontario 12,978 - British Columbia 23,000 - Rupert's Land 33,500 - Manitoba 500 and Labrador and the Arctic Watersheds 22,000

Canada as a whole since confederation

Census data by years and projected data

Modern population distribution

By province and territory

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Canada's population from the 2011 census by province and territory

By cities and municipalities

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First Nations

See also

References

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Further reading

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External links

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