Living alone is gaining popularity in Quebec

Quebec is still the leader in Canada for the number of people living alone and in common-law unions, while different lifestyles – shared accommodation, multigenerational homes – are gaining popularity in the country. Overview in six points.

Posted at 5:00 a.m.

Lila Dussault

Lila Dussault
The Press

More and more Quebecers live alone

In 2001, 15% of Quebecers lived alone, a proportion which rose to 19% in 2021. Quebec thus ranks first in Canada, according to data from the 2021 census made public on Wednesday. By comparison, only 12% of Ontarians live alone.

According to Jacques Légaré, professor emeritus of demography at the University of Montreal, this gap is explained by cultural differences between Quebec and the rest of the country. “Quebec has a different way of life and values,” he explains. Here, we have a cultural model of independence, that is to say that people do not feel obliged to live with others. »


The lower cost of housing, tax credits and various socio-cultural factors, “including greater marital instability”, also explain these statistics, indicates the federal agency.

Which doesn’t mean loneliness isn’t on the rise in Canada. In 2021, a record 4.4 million people reported living alone in the country, compared to 1.7 million 40 years ago in 1981.

More solo living among young people

Surprising fact: the desire to live alone is more and more marked among people aged 35 to 44. In this age group, the proportion doubled between 1981 (5%) and 2021 (10%).

But it is the elderly who represent the largest proportion of single people. In 2021, 42% of all people aged 85 and over lived alone.

Unusual detail: the proportion of women aged 85 living alone has decreased, from 60% in 2001 to 53% in 2021. Why? Because men now live longer!

Couples can also decide to live apart, says Statistics Canada. In 2017, 17% of people aged 20 and over living alone said they were in a relationship, according to a survey by the federal agency. An increasingly popular option among the elderly, adds Mr. Légaré.

All things considered, Statistics Canada also notes that fewer seniors live alone these days “compared to previous generations”.

Impacts on housing

Obviously, the fact that more and more single-person households have an impact on residential demand. In 2021, more than half of people living alone lived in an apartment, compared to 61% of households of two or more people who lived in single-detached houses.

“In general, downtown residents of large urban centers were significantly more likely to live alone, due to the high density housing that tends to be found in the heart of these urban centres,” says Statistics Canada. Thus, nearly half of adults lived alone in downtown Trois-Rivières (48%) and Saguenay (45%). Almost similar levels were observed in the downtown areas of Drummondville, Quebec and Sherbrooke.

Common-law unions: a particularity in Quebec… and in Nunavut

Quebeckers are among the champions of cohabitation in the G7 countries, and not just in Canada. 43% of Quebec households lived in common-law unions in 2021, compared to 17% for the rest of the country. Only Nunavut, where 52% of households are common-law, has a higher proportion.


The proportion of Quebecers choosing common-law unions rather than marriage has been on the rise for 10 years. In 2021, 23.3% of Quebecers aged 15 and over were living common-law, compared to 19.4% in 2011. And marriages have decreased, from 35.4% in 2011 to 32.5% in 2021.

In Canada, 77% of couples are married.

Colocation and multi-generational homes: increasingly popular

Shared accommodation is the type of household that has grown the fastest in 20 years, an increase of 54% from 2001 to 2021.

Furthermore, the number of households where a family shares its home with other members (for example, a multi-generational house) has also increased by 45% over the past 20 years. In 2021, nearly 1 million households were composed in this way, which corresponds to 7% of all Canadian households.

Data on sexual and gender diversity

For the first time in 2021, the census compiled data on sexual and gender diversity in Canadian households. In Quebec, 27,950 couples had the same gender and 4,985 couples declared at least one transgender or non-binary partner.

With The Canadian Press


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