People
Canada's population is 10 times its size in 1870, the year of the first census after Confederation. Here is a closer look at the people who make up the country:
- 35.2 million: the population in 2016.
- 3.5 million: the population in 1870.
- 41: the average age of a citizen in 2016.
- 1.4 million: number of people who reported having an Indigenous identity in 2011 (4.3 per cent of the country's total population).
- 17 million: number of people from around the world who have made their home in Canada since 1867.
- 20.6 per cent: proportion of the population listed as foreign born in 2011 (the highest among G8 countries).
- 6.2 million: number of people who self-identify as being part of a visible minority group in 2011 (the three largest identify as South Asian, Chinese and black, and make up 60 per cent of the visible minority population).
National identity and values
According to Statistics Canada, Canadians seem to have a strong sense of who they are and what their country stands for:
- 93 per cent believed the Charter of Rights and Freedoms is "the country's most important national symbol" in 2013, followed by the national flag (91 per cent), the national anthem (88 per cent), the RCMP (87 per cent), and hockey (77 per cent).
- 92 per cent believed "Canadians collectively share the value of human rights" in 2013, followed by respect for the law (92 per cent), and gender equality (91 per cent).
- 90 per cent reported "a strong sense of belonging to Canada" in 2013.
- 87 per cent over age 15 reported "being proud to be Canadian" in 2013.
