Estimated number of persons on July 1, by 5-year age groups and gender, and median age, for Canada, provinces and territories.

The statistic shows the total population in Canada from 2020 to 2024, with projections up until 2030. In 2024, the total population in Canada amounted to about 41.14 million inhabitants. Population of Canada Canada ranks second among the largest countries in the world in terms of area size, right behind Russia, despite having a relatively low total population. The reason for this is that most of Canada remains uninhabited due to inhospitable conditions. Approximately 90 percent of all Canadians live within about 160 km of the U.S. border because of better living conditions and larger cities. On a year to year basis, Canada’s total population has continued to increase, although not dramatically. Population growth as of 2012 has amounted to its highest values in the past decade, reaching a peak in 2009, but was unstable and constantly fluctuating. Simultaneously, Canada’s fertility rate dropped slightly between 2009 and 2011, after experiencing a decade high birth rate in 2008. Standard of living in Canada has remained stable and has kept the country as one of the top 20 countries with the highest Human Development Index rating. The Human Development Index (HDI) measures quality of life based on several indicators, such as life expectancy at birth, literacy rate, education levels and gross national income per capita. Canada has a relatively high life expectancy compared to many other international countries, earning a spot in the top 20 countries and beating out countries such as the United States and the UK. From an economic standpoint, Canada has been slowly recovering from the 2008 financial crisis. Unemployment has gradually decreased, after reaching a decade high in 2009. Additionally, GDP has dramatically increased since 2009 and is expected to continue to increase for the next several years.

Annual population estimates by marital status or legal marital status, age and sex, Canada, provinces and territories.

In 2023, there were about 5.81 million males and 5.56 million females between the ages of 25 and 44 living in Canada, which was the most out of any age group. The next largest age group was between the ages of 45 and 64, with 5.01 million males and 5.11 million females.

Canadian demographics

The average age of the Canadian resident population was about 40.6 years in 2023, with Newfoundland and Labrador having the oldest average population, and Nunavut having the youngest average population. Additionally, the majority of Canadians in 2022, both males and females, are single. The next largest group of Canadians are married, and not separated.

Immigration to Canada

Much like the United States, Canada is an immigrant nation, and many of its residents have immigrant backgrounds. Additionally, immigration to Canada has been steadily increasing since 2000, making the country a diverse melting pot for people of all backgrounds.

As of January 2025, 95 percent of the Canadian population accessed the internet. Online penetration among individuals in Canada has increased over the past reported periods, as in 2019, the percentage of people accessing the internet in the country was around 91 percent.

In 2025, YouTube remained the most widely used platform for news among Canadians, with 28 percent of respondents saying they accessed news there—though this marked a slight decline from the previous year. Facebook followed closely at 25 percent, showing no change. Instagram was the third most-used platform for news, used by 13 percent, while X (formerly Twitter) was used by 11 percent of Canadians for news content.

This table presents a series of indicators relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, including relating to perceptions of Canadians' mental health, precautions they've taken, their experience of symptoms, and willingness to receive vaccine. Estimates are based on preliminary monthly data from the Canadian Community Health Survey, and are provided for the Canadian population aged 18 and older excluding the territories, by gender, age, region of residence, and other demographic characteristics.

As of February 2025, **** percent of X users identified as male, while ** percent identified as female.

This table contains 30 series, with data for years 1911 - 1971 (not all combinations necessarily have data for all years), and was last released on 2012-02-16. This table contains data described by the following dimensions (Not all combinations are available): Unit of measure (1 items: Persons ...) Geography (1 items: Canada ...) Birthplace (2 items: Canadian-born; Other British- and foreign-born ...) Age groups (5 items: All ages; 15-24 years; 25-64 years; Under 15 years ...) Sex (3 items: Both sexes; Females; Males ...).

It is presumed that the first humans migrated from Siberia to North America approximately twelve thousand years ago, where they then moved southwards to warmer lands. It was not until many centuries later that humans returned to the north and began to settle regions that are now part of Canada. Despite a few short-lived Viking settlements on Newfoundland around the turn of the first millennium CE, the Italian explorer Giovanni Caboto (John Cabot), became the first European to explore the coast of North America in the late 1400s. The French and British crowns both made claims to areas of Canada throughout the sixteenth century, but real colonization and settlement did not begin until the early seventeenth century. Over the next 150 years, France and Britain competed to take control of the booming fur and fishing trade, and to expand their overseas empires. In the Seven Year's War, Britain eventually defeated the French colonists in North America, through superior numbers and a stronger agriculture resources in the southern colonies, and the outcome of the war saw France cede practically all of it's colonies in North America to the British.

Increased migration and declining native populations

The early 1800s saw a large influx of migrants into Canada, with the Irish Potato Famine bringing the first wave of mass-migration to the country, with further migration coming from Scandinavia and Northern Europe. It is estimated that the region received just shy of one million migrants from the British Isles alone, between 1815 and 1850, which helped the population grow to 2.5 million in the mid-1800s and 5.5 million in 1900. It is also estimated that infectious diseases killed around 25 to 33 percent of all Europeans who migrated to Canada before 1891, and around a third of the Canadian population is estimated to have emigrated southwards to the United States in the 1871-1896 period. From the time of European colonization until the mid-nineteenth century, the native population of Canada dropped from roughly 500,000 (some estimates put it as high as two million) to just over 100,000; this was due to a mixture of disease, starvation and warfare, instigated by European migration to the region. The native population was generally segregated and oppressed until the second half of the 1900s; Native Canadians were given the vote in 1960, and, despite their complicated and difficult history, the Canadian government has made significant progress in trying to include indigenous cultures in the country's national identity in recent years. As of 2020, Indigenous Canadians make up more than five percent of the total Canadian population, and a higher birth rate means that this share of the population is expected to grow in the coming decades.

Independence and modern Canada

Canadian independence was finally acknowledged in 1931 by the Statute of Westminster, putting it on equal terms with the United Kingdom within the Commonwealth; virtually granting independence and sovereignty until the Canada Act of 1982 formalized it. Over the past century, Canada has had a relatively stable political system and economy (although it was hit particularly badly by the Wall Street Crash of 1929). Canada entered the First World War with Britain, and as an independent Allied Power in the Second World War; Canadian forces played pivotal roles in a number of campaigns, notably Canada's Hundred Days in WWI, and the country lost more than 100,000 men across both conflicts. The economy boomed in the aftermath of the Second World War, and a stream of socially democratic programs such as universal health care and the Canadian pension plan were introduced, which contributed to a rise in the standard of living. The post war period also saw various territories deciding to join Canada, with Newfoundland joining in 1949, and Nunavut in 1999. Today Canada is among the most highly ranked in countries in terms of civil liberties, quality of life and economic growth. It promotes and welcomes immigrants from all over the world and, as a result, it has one of the most ethnically diverse and multicultural populations of any country in the world. As of 2020, Canada's population stands at around 38 million people, and continues to grow due to high migration levels and life expectancy, and a steady birth rate.

As of January 2024, Canada had almost 37 million internet users, which amounted to 94.3 percent of the country's population. Of this total, 31.90 million were social media users.

This statistic shows the percent of Canadian adults aged 25 to 64 years who have a tertiary education in 2021, by age group and sex. In 2021, about 75 percent of women aged 25 to 34 in Canada had a tertiary education.

In 2022, 9.9 percent of all Canadians were living in low income. Between 2000 and 2022, the percentage of population with low income experienced a decrease, reaching the lowest value in 2020. The highest share of Canadians with low income was recorded in 2015, with 14.5 percent of the total population.

Low Income Measures

The low income measures (LIMs) were developed by Statistics Canada in the 1990s. They, along with the low income cut-offs (LICOs) and the market basket measure (MBM), were created in order to measure and track the low income population of Canada. With low income measures, individuals are classified as being in low income if their income falls below fifty percent of the median adjusted household income. The median income is adjusted in order to reflect the differing financial needs of households based on the number of its members. The low income measures are a useful tool to compare low income populations between countries as they do not rely on an arbitrary standard of what constitutes the threshold for poverty. Statistics Canada insists that the low income measures are not meant to be representative of a poverty rate. The department has no measure which they define as a measurement of poverty in Canada. Latest data and trends In 2022, around 2.1 million people were living in low income families in Canada. This figure has been fluctuating over the years, both in absolute numbers and in proportion over the total population. More women than men were living in low income families in 2022, though the number of men in low income has risen at twice the rate as that of women. One of the more drastic changes has been the rise in the number of single individuals living in low income, increasing by more than 60 percent since 2000.

Population, female (% of total population) in Canada was reported at 50.34 % in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Canada - Population, female (% of total) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Canada was the country with the highest number of active NHL players as of March 2024. Specifically, the country had 1,078 players who were active in the National Hockey League when the study was conducted. The National Hockey League (NHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America, featuring seven franchises from Canada and 25 from the United States.

How popular is ice hockey in Canada?

Ice hockey is the official winter sport for the North American country, signifying its popularity. In 2022, there were just over half a million registered ice hockey players in Canada and the country boasted close to eight thousand ice hockey rinks to accommodate the sport. Meanwhile, looking at the popularity of the NHL in Canada, around 1.2 million individuals tuned in to watch the NHL’s annual playoff tournament in 2022 on Canada’s Sportsnet channel.

How valuable are NHL franchises?

The Toronto Maple Leafs were the most valuable NHL franchise in 2023, with an estimated valuation of 2.8 billion U.S. dollars that year. The Maple Leafs were twice as valuable as the average NHL franchise valuation, which amounted to just over 1.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2023. Nevertheless, the NHL’s average franchise value was notably lower when considering the average franchise values of other major sports leagues in North America.

This table contains 9 series, with data for years 1946 - 1995 (not all combinations necessarily have data for all years), and was last released on 2000-10-20. This table contains data described by the following dimensions (Not all combinations are available): Geography (1 item: Canada), Operating statistics (9 items: Railway revenues; Railway operating expenses; Railway operating income;
Railway operating revenue; passenger; ...).

About this dataset

Context

The dataset tabulates the population of Canadian by race. It includes the population of Canadian across racial categories (excluding ethnicity) as identified by the Census Bureau. The dataset can be utilized to understand the population distribution of Canadian across relevant racial categories.

Key observations

The percent distribution of Canadian population by race (across all racial categories recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau): 86.36% are white, 2.48% are American Indian and Alaska Native and 11.16% are multiracial.

Content

When available, the data consists of estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 2019-2023 5-Year Estimates.

Racial categories include:

• White
• Black or African American
• American Indian and Alaska Native
• Asian
• Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander
• Some other race
• Two or more races (multiracial)

Variables / Data Columns

• Race: This column displays the racial categories (excluding ethnicity) for the Canadian
• Population: The population of the racial category (excluding ethnicity) in the Canadian is shown in this column.
• % of Total Population: This column displays the percentage distribution of each race as a proportion of Canadian total population. Please note that the sum of all percentages may not equal one due to rounding of values.

Good to know

Margin of Error

Data in the dataset are based on the estimates and are subject to sampling variability and thus a margin of error. Neilsberg Research recommends using caution when presening these estimates in your research.

Custom data

If you do need custom data for any of your research project, report or presentation, you can contact our research staff at research@neilsberg.com for a feasibility of a custom tabulation on a fee-for-service basis.

Inspiration

Neilsberg Research Team curates, analyze and publishes demographics and economic data from a variety of public and proprietary sources, each of which often includes multiple surveys and programs. The large majority of Neilsberg Research aggregated datasets and insights is made available for free download at https://www.neilsberg.com/research/.

Recommended for further research

This dataset is a part of the main dataset for Canadian Population by Race & Ethnicity. You can refer the same here

Home Ownership Rate in Canada decreased to 66.70 percent in 2023 from 69.30 percent in 2021. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - Canada Home Ownership Rate - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

During a survey held among French-speaking Canadians in February 2025, 27 percent of respondents stated the online outlet they consulted for news on a weekly basis was TVA Nouvelles online, making this the most popular among Francophones in Canada. By contrast, just six percent turned to TV5 Online and QUB Radio online for news, respectively.

This statistic shows the resident population of Canada in 2023, distinguished by age. In 2023, about 2.12 million Canadian children were aged between 5 and 9 years.