Family Structure

Canadian families have become more diverse over the last two decades as a result of increases in separation, divorce, remarriage, common-law unions and lone-parent families. The Canadian family has also been shaped by a decrease in fertility rates. The changing composition of families, census family structure and the family status of individuals are measures used by Statistics Canada to determine some of the trends in the family.

According to Statistics Canada, "Census Family Structure" refers to the "classification of census families into families of now-married couples and common-law couples (with or without children) and lone-parent families. Read more about family persons

The reference to "all husband - wife families" includes families of both legally married couples and common-law couples. Together the husband-wife families and lone-parent families make up the total number of families in Canada. The figure below shows the changes in the distribution of family structures over a ten-year period.

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Figure 1. Family Structure

The married couple family remains the dominant family type in Canada. Since 1986, however, the proportion of this type of family has decreased from 80% to 74% of all families, while growth among common-law couple families saw an increase of 28% from 1991. According to the 1996 Census, 14.5% of all families were lone-parent families. The total number of lone-parent families in 1996 reached 1 138 000, a 19% increase from 1991 and a 33% increase from 1986.

The distribution of different family structure varies across Canada. Married couple families are relatively more prominent throughout the Prairie Provinces, southern Ontario and Newfoundland, while families of common-law couples are most prominent in Quebec, Yukon and the Northwest Territories. Although lone parent families are evident in all regions of Canada, the highest proportions have been observed in larger urban communities. The highest proportions of lone-parent families, although evident in all regions of Canada, are observed in larger urban communities.

The charts below summarize the distribution of family structure for all of Canada and for each of the provinces and territories.

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Figure 2. Married Couples

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Figure 3 : Common-law Couples

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Figure 4. Lone Parent Families (Men)

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Figure 5. Lone Parent Families (Women)

Married Couple Families – “Marriage Still Popular”

According to the results of the 1996 Census, “married couple families” still constitute the large majority of families. Since 1986, the proportion has declined from 80% of all families to 74%, due to substantial increases in both common-law and lone-parent families. In 1996 there were 5.8 million married couple families living in Canada. The highest proportion of married couple families was in Newfoundland at 78% of all families. Quebec had the lowest proportion among the provinces at 64% of all families. All of the provinces and territories observed a decrease in the proportion of married couple families for the period 1986 to 1996.

Although legal marriage is still the preferred lifestyle of the majority of Canadian adults, marriage is now taking place later in life. There has also been an increase in the number of couples that have chosen not to marry at all. Research has indicated that the fluctuating marriage rate has coincided with social and economic indicators over the last 70 years. As a result there has been the tendency for individuals without employment or financial security to postpone marriage or to not marry. This has happened in the past: the depression of the 1930’s was witness to the lowest marriage rate at 6 marriages per 1000, compared to 425 per 1000 in 1993. The highest rates were observed in the 1950's and 1960's with rates of 950 per 1000 and over. The situation today reflects the growing popularity and acceptance of common-law unions, re-marriage and, to a large extent, single lifestyles.

Common-law Couple Families

Since 1981, common-law unions have been steadily increasing. This is particularly true in the province of Quebec. In 1981, 8% of Quebec couples lived common-law, compared to 25% in 1996. The rest of Canada has also seen a marked, but lower, increase from 6% in 1981 to 10% in 1996. Common-law unions are prevalent among the Aboriginal peoples of Canada. Of the couples living in the Territories, 31% were in common-law unions in 1996.

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Figure 6. Couples in Common-law Unions

Many regional patterns can be noted on this map layer. Common-law unions are more frequent in northern New Brunswick, in the census divisions where there is a geographically high concentration of persons whose mother tongue is French. Ontario, too, has higher concentrations of common-law unions in census divisions with more than 25% French mother tongue, for example, Sudbury, Cochrane and Prescott-Russell. In Quebec, lower proportions of common-law are found along the Ontario-Quebec border. Montreal shows a clear split between English and French census divisions. Read more about Detailed Regional Descriptions

The individuals living in common-law unions have been further grouped according to their reported "legal marital status" based on 1996 Census data. Refer to figure below:

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Figure 7. Distribution of Persons 15 Years of Age or Older Living Common-law, by Marital Status, 1996 Census

Lone-Parent Families - General

Statistics Canada has defined a lone parent as "a mother or father, with no spouse or common-law partner present, living in a dwelling with one or more never-married sons and/or daughters." According to this definition, when a child marries or moves into a common-law union, the lone parent is no longer considered a member of a census family.

Lone parents are not a new phenomenon in Canada, however an increase of 33% has been observed between 1986 and 1996. Today there are approximately 1 138 000 lone-parent families, and families headed by women continue to outnumber those headed by men by four to one, or 83% of all lone-parent families. Lone parent families make up 22% o all families with children.

Prior to 1960, the death of a spouse was the primary cause of lone-parenthood accounting for 60% of these families. As of 1996 a spouse's death accounted for 20% of all lone parent families. Changes to the Canadian Divorce Law in 1968 and 1985 have directly influenced the increase of divorce rates. Divorce now accounts for one-third of all lone-parent families and separation accounts for one-fifth. A further trend indicates that in 1996 nearly 24% of all female lone parents had never been married, an increase of 22% from 1986.

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Figure 8. Marital Status of Male and Female Lone-parents (1991)

Results of the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) indicated that common-law families, particularly outside of Quebec, were more likely to experience a family breakdown. An example of this is shown by the higher proportion of lone parent families in the northern Prairie Provinces and the Northwest Territories where there are also high proportions of common-law unions. The agricultural regions of western Canada show smaller proportions of lone parent families. In comparison, significant concentrations of lone parent families are found in major urban centres such as Montréal, Toronto and Ottawa-Hull.

For additional information, see the "Family Structure" series of maps, specifically the Common-law Couple Families.

Lone Parent Families Headed by Women

The majority of lone parent families in Canada are headed by women, where they outnumber those headed by men four to one. The 1996 Census data indicate that these families increased by 20% between 1991 and 1996 as compared to families headed by men (a 16% increase). The overall proportion of lone parents who had never married increased from 14% in 1986 to 22% in 1996. In 1996, 24% of all female lone parents reported a marital status of "single".

The number of children living with a lone mother increased by 20% as compared to children living with a lone father (11%). This increase of female lone parents is closely tied to the increase of families living below the poverty line. The National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY, 1994 to 1995) indicated that 92% of all children living in a lone parent family, lived with their mother.

The highest concentrations of female lone parent families, as a proportion of all lone parent families, are found in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and the Atlantic Provinces. The proportion of married couples also tends to be relatively high in these areas. In the case of the Atlantic Provinces, the percentage of births to single mothers is the highest in Canada (NLSCY, General Social Survey 1990). The reverse is true for Quebec, where fewer births to single mothers were reported, and fewer children experienced lone-parenthood very early in life. However, by the time Quebec children reached the age of 4, they were as likely to be living in a lone parent family as other children in Canada. By the age of 10, Quebec children were more likely to be living with one parent than other children in Canada.

Common-law Couple Families: Detailed Regional Descriptions

In New Brunswick, the proportion of couples living common-law was 12.6% in 1996 – slightly more than the proportions in the other provinces, except Quebec. The map indicates that common-law unions are more frequent in northern New Brunswick, in the census divisions where there is a geographically high concentration of persons whose mother tongue is French. The proportion of couples living common-law is 19.4% in Gloucester, 16.9% in Madawaska, and 16.0% in Restigouche (regions in which most people have French as their mother tongue).

In Ontario, 9.1% of couples were in common-law unions in 1996. Although such unions are less popular there than in Quebec or New Brunswick, the proportion of persons living common-law is higher in the census divisions in which persons whose mother tongue is French make up at least one quarter of the population. This type of union was higher in Cochrane (15.6%); Prescott-Russell (15.4%); Timiskaming (13.6%) and Sudbury (13.5%). In the Kenora census division (16.2%) and the Manitoulin census division (12.8%), the proportion of couples living common-law is higher than that for the province, which may be attributable to the high concentration of Aboriginal persons.

In Quebec, the propensity to be in common-law unions is highest in the Vallée de l'Or region, at 36.8%. In most of the other census divisions, the frequency of common-law unions varies between 20% and 34%. However, in the Pontiac region of southern Quebec, on the Ontario border, the proportion of persons living common-law is only 13.7%. This is related to the large concentration in this division of persons who have English as a mother tongue.

The differences between the Francophone and Anglophone population, with regards to common-law unions, are even more marked in the Montréal Island census subdivisions. In the Montréal urban community as a whole, 20.3% of couples were living common-law in 1996. In all the subdivisions in which Anglophones account for a large majority of the population, the propensity to live in common-law unions is lower than 11%. Examples of such subdivisions include Westmount, West Montréal, Côte Saint Luc, Hampstead, Pointe-Claire, Kirkland, Beaconsfield, Baie D'Urfé and Dollard des Ormeaux. However, when the population having English as the mother tongue accounts for less than one quarter of the subdivision’s total population, common-law unions increase to more than 20%. Examples of such subdivisions include Anjou, North Montréal, Montréal, Saint-Pierre d'Outremont and East Montréal. Return to Common-law Couple Families

To properly interpret this map, please consult the text Data and Mapping Notes.

• Marital Status, 1996 Map | Read about this map
• Children Living at Home Map | Read about this map
• Families with Children Living at Home Map | Read about this map

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• Families (1996)
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