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2006 Census: Portrait of the Canadian Population in 2006: Findings

By Laurent Martel and Éric Caron-Malenfant, Demography Division, Statistics Canada

• Highlights
• National portrait
  • Population growth is up
  • Two out of three Canadians live near the southern border shared with the United States
• Population of the provinces and territories
  • Population growth is higher in most provinces, territories
  • The number of people in the Atlantic provinces is unchanged
  • Quebec: second-highest growth rate since the end of the baby boom
  • Ontario: half of Canada's population growth
  • Alberta: the engine of population growth in the Prairie provinces
  • Slight increase in the population growth of British Columbia
  • 100,000 people in the territories
• Subprovincial population dynamics
  • Canada's population becoming more urban
  • Population growth has been uneven across the country
  • Vast majority of Canada's population growth is concentrated in large metropolitan areas
  • Three large urban areas: the Montréal and Vancouver CMAs and the Greater Golden Horseshoe
  • Urban spread in Canada's six largest metropolitan centres
  • Portrait of mid-size urban centres
  • Portrait of small towns, rural areas and the territories
  • Small towns and communities in the territories

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