2001 Population

• Population Distribution, 2001 Map | Read about this map
• Population Density, 2001 Map | Read about this map
• Population Change, 1996 to 2001 Map | Read about this map

Only three provinces and one territory registered growth rates above the national average of 4%. The 2001 Census counted 2 974 807 people in Alberta, which comprised 9.9% of the total population enumerated by the census, compared with 9.3% in 1996. Alberta's booming economy attracted an estimated net inflow of 140 000 migrants from the rest of the country over the 1996 to 2001 period.

The Census enumerated 11 410 046 people in Ontario, an increase of more than 656 000 since 1996, the largest growth in absolute numbers among the provinces. This gain represented 57% of the total growth in Canada's population between 1996 and 2001. Ontario accounted for 38% of the nation’s population in 2001.

British Columbia is the only province in which the population has grown at a rate faster than the national average in every census since the province joined Confederation in 1871. The census counted 3 907 738 people in British Columbia, up 4.9% from 1996.

Among the three territories, the 2001 Census showed an increase in population in only Nunavut, the newest territory that came into existence in April 1999. Nunavut had an estimated 26 745 residents, up 8.1% from the number living within its boundaries at the time of the 1996 Census.

Six provinces experienced small changes in their populations from 1996 to 2001: Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Among these provinces, Quebec's population increased 1.4%. Manitoba and Prince Edward Island both showed identical increases of 0.5%. There was virtually no change in Nova Scotia (-0.1%), while the population of New Brunswick declined by 1.2%, and Saskatchewan by 1.1%.

The text was adapted from Statistics Canada, A profile of the Canadian Population: where we live, Catalogue number 96F00030XIE2001001. Statistics Canada information is used with the permission of Statistics Canada. Information on the availability of the wide range of data from Statistics Canada can be obtained from the Statistic Canada’s Regional Offices, its World Wide Web site at: www.statcan.ca, and its toll-free access number 1-800-263-1136.