Quebec is still the province with the highest proportion of people living alone in 2021, at 19%, says Statistics Canada.
Posted at 11:54 a.m.
In contrast, Ontario and Alberta had the two lowest proportions of adults living alone in 2021 – at 12% and 13% respectively, according to results from the most recent national census. In Nunavut, where the lowest proportion of people living alone has been recorded since 2001, this rate was 8% in 2021.
Statistics Canada attributes this greater proportion of people who live alone in Quebec to lower housing costs, tax credits and various socio-cultural factors, “including greater marital instability”.
“In general, downtown residents of large urban centers were significantly more likely to live alone, driven by the high-density housing that tends to be found in the heart of these urban centers,” the federal agency said. . 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.
Across the country, 4.4 million Canadians lived alone in 2021, compared to 1.7 million in 1981. These people accounted for 15% of all adults aged 15 and over living in private households in 2021, the highest proportion on record, says Statistics Canada.
Statistics Canada also indicates that more and more middle-aged adults in Canada are living alone: the proportion of people aged 35 to 44 living alone has doubled from 1981 to 2021, rising from 5% to 10%.
We also share accommodation
In Canada, the number of homes shared by multiple generations of a family, by two or more families living together, or by a family living with people they may or may not be related to has increased by 45% over the past 20 years. . These households numbered nearly one million in 2021, or 7% of households in Canada.
Moreover, almost 1 in 10 children aged 0 to 14 living in a census family lived in the same household as at least one of their grandparents in 2021.
Economists and demographers have attributed these trends to wages not keeping up with the soaring cost of living, as well as immigration and high house prices.
Data from Rentals.ca shows the average rent in Canada reached $1,885 per month in June, a 9.5% increase from the same month last year. To cope, many Canadians live with roommates or family – often much longer than their parents.
And in some cultures it is quite normal for children to stay at home until they are married.
Living with roommates was also more common in the inner cities of larger urban centres, especially in cities with large post-secondary institutions.
Statistics Canada also indicates that just over 20% of children in a single-parent family lived with their father in 2021, compared to 14% in 1981.