Census Shows a Changing Canada–and Brampton

Published August 2, 2017 at 6:39 pm

Recently released census data shows a Canada (and Brampton) that’s shifting, changing and embracing “new normals” as far as living and family situations are concerned.

Recently released census data shows a Canada (and Brampton) that’s shifting, changing and embracing “new normals” as far as living and family situations are concerned.

The census–focused on families, households, marital statuses and language–reveals a changing social landscape where more people are choosing to forego to delay parenthood, stay with their parents longer or live alone.

Now, it appears there are more childless couples than ever before and more and more people are choosing solo living over partnering up. According to the data, 28.2 per cent of Canadian households are occupied by just one resident, while 21.3 per cent of Canadians are in common law relationships.

The data also indicates that a staggering number of adults between the ages of 20 and 34–34.7 per cent, to be exact–are living with their parents (which should surprise no one due to the escalating cost of housing).

As far as languages go, 18 per cent of Canadians speak both English and French and 19.4 per cent of Canadians speak more than one language at home. As for Canadians whose first language is neither English nor French, the data reveals that 7,974,375 people boast a different mother tongue.

As for Brampton, the numbers are just as interesting.

According to Brampton’s Economic Review 2016, Brampton is the second fastest growing city in Canada, with approximately 14,000 new residents per year, over 89 languages spoken by 209 different cultures, and a median age of 34.7 – the lowest in Canada.

Census data shows that the city boasts a population of 593,638 (a notable increase from the 523,906 it clocked in at in 2011) and a total of 173,428 private dwellings. As far as solo residents go, 20,820 households are occupied by a single person. Data indicates that 34,495 households are occupied by two people, 31,210 are occupied by three, 39,420 are occupied by four and 42,060 are occupied by five or more.

In terms of marital status, data shows that 218,360 residents are married or in common law relationships, with 262,150 married couples and 19,210 common law couples. The census says 192,035 residents over the age of 15 are single (or at least not married to/living with their partner).

The census shows that 139,855 residents have never been married, 11,990 are separated, 19,960 are divorced and 20,230 are widowed.

As far as families in private census households go, 56,460 family units consist of just two people. In terms of larger families, 39,955 families contain three people, 47,710 contain four and 20,395 contain five or more. The data also shows that 23,475 families are headed by single female parents, while 5,090 families boast a single male parent. There are a total of 28,565 single parent families in the city.

As for families with children, the census reveals that 41,360 census family households have no children, while 94,600 do.

In terms of languages, the vast majority of residents–554,465–identify English as their first language. Only 4,920 say French is their first language, 4,345 speak both languages and 27,940 speak a different first language entirely.

As far as mother tongues go, 284,935 residents speak English, while 251,540 speak other languages. Common languages in Brampton include Tagalog (10,340), Tamil (12,695), Gujarati (16,750), Hindi (14,070), Nepali (1,090), Punjabi (110,710), Urdu (20,200), Portuguese (10,590), Spanish (11,140) and Chinese languages, including Mandarin and Cantonese (6,335).

Over half the population (345,400) speaks English at home.

For more information, click here.

Editor’s Note: A typographical error occurred that stated over 600,000 people speak English as a first language. The correct number is 554,465. We regret the error.

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