Abstract

A person’s marital status can be referred to as legally married, separated, divorced, widowed, or single. A significant proportion of the population is classified as either single (46% of the population), or legally married (41% of the population). In 1996, only 3% of persons 15 years of age or older were separated. The largest proportions of divorced persons are in the provinces of Quebec (9.0%) and British Columbia (7.9%). Saskatchewan had the highest proportion of widowed persons in Canada, 7.6%. Women make up more than 80% of this group, a figure that will increase as people age, since men have a much higher mortality rate at advanced ages.