Due to Quebec, where more than four out of ten couples are unmarried, Canada is positioned as the G7 country with the highest rate of unmarried couples.
In the country, there are 23% of common-law couples, reveals the 2021 census of Statistics Canada. This puts Canada ahead of the United Kingdom, which has 21%, and France, with 18%. But this position at the top of the list is mainly attributable to the strong participation of Quebec, where we find 43% of common-law couples in the whole country.
However, Canada is behind the Nordic countries, such as Sweden, where 33% of couples live common law. This is believed to be due to “societal and legislative differences surrounding cohabitation and procreation outside of marriage” between Canada and these states.
In Canada, except in Quebec and Nunavut, couples tend to marry in the first years of adulthood. Thus, while marriage seems to be very popular for couples from other Canadian provinces, common-law unions “serve more as a substitute for marriage for many residents of Quebec and Nunavut”. Between 1981 and 2021, it should also be noted that common-law unions have increased by 447% in the country.
For the first time, the census paid special attention to couples from gender diversity. We thus learn that 1.5% of couples in Canada are made up of either two people of the same gender, or at least one transgender or non-binary person. This represents approximately 1 in 250 couples.
Some other highlights
The proportion of people in a couple has remained roughly the same over the past century, rising from 58% to 57% between 1921 and 2021.
Nearly 3 out of 10 Canadians between the ages of 20 and 34 are in a couple, but do not live under the same roof as their better half.
Half of Canadian couples have one or more children of all ages. In 1981, this proportion was 64%.
To see in video