CENSUS, BY THE NUMBERS.
The latest — and second-to-last — release on Wednesday of data from the 2016 census continued to paint the new Canadian reality, with particular focus on the Indigenous population and recent immigrants. Here are some of the numbers, via The Canadian Press.
21.9
Percentage of Canada’s populace that identify as landed immigrants or permanent residents. That figure is nearly on par with the 1921 census, at 22.3. That was the highest level since Confederation.
1.2M
Number of new immigrants who permanently settled in Canada between 2011 and 2016.
67.8
Percentage of Canadians who owned their homes in 2016, a slight decrease from 69 per cent in 2011.
double
In the last 15 years, the numbers of recent immigrants to the Prairies has more than doubled. While Vancouver is still among the top three cities where more than half of all immigrants choose to live, many more are settling in the Prairies and Atlantic provinces.
40.8
The percentage of Vancouver’s population represented by immigrants. The percentage of immigrants to B.C. overall has fallen in the last 15 years, from 19.9 per cent in 2001 to 14.5 per cent in 2016.
42.5
Percentage growth of the Aboriginal population — which includes First Nations, Métis and Inuit — between 2006 and 2016, more than four times the growth rate of Canada’s nonAboriginal population.
1,700,000
The number of Aboriginal people living in Canada, 4.9 per cent of the country’s total population. This figure is up from the 3.8 per cent in 2006 and 2.8 per cent in 1996. While life expectancy and relatively high fertility rates have spurred natural growth, data suggests the growth can also be attributed to more people self identifying as Aboriginal.