Demographics & population — Canada
Population size, age structure, migration, ethnicity, language, education, and health indicators.
Profile updated 2026-06-02
⚡ Demographics & population at a glance
Population size, age structure, migration, ethnicity, language, education, and health indicators. Key figure for Canada: 38,794,813
Immigration rules and fees change frequently — confirm current requirements on official government or embassy websites.
Population overview
- Population
38,794,813
- Population Growth Rate
0.71%
- Population Distribution
vast majority of Canadians are positioned in a discontinuous band within approximately 300 km of the southern border with the United States; the most populated province is Ontario, followed by Quebec and British Columbia
- Urban Population
- urban population: 81.9%
- of total population rate of urbanization: 0.95% annual rate of change
- Population in Major Urban Areas
6.372 million Toronto, 4.308 million Montreal, 2.657 million Vancouver, 1.640 million Calgary, 1.544 million Edmonton, 1.437 million OTTAWA (capital)
- Population: Male/Female
- male: 19,234,729
- female: 19,560,084
Age & family
- Age Structure
- years: 15.5% (male 3,098,478/female 2,929,148) 15-64
- years: 63.4% (male 12,382,422/female 12,227,512) 65
- years and over: 21% (male 3,753,829/female 4,403,424)
- Median Age
- total: 42.6
- years male: 41.4
- years female: 43.8 years
- Birth Rate - births/1,000 population
10
- Death Rate - deaths/1,000 population
8.2
- Total Fertility Rate - children born/woman
1.58
- Gross reproduction rate
1
- Currently married women (ages 15-49)
52.2%
- Mean Age for Mother's First Birth (age 25-49)
29.4
- Mother's mean age at first birth
29.4
- Sex Ratio at Birth - male/female
- at birth: 1.05
- male(s)/female 0-14 years: 1.06
- male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01
- male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.85
- male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female
Migration
- Net Migration Rate - migrant(s)/1,000 population
5.3
Ethnicity & language
- Ethnic Groups
Canadian 15.6%, English 14.7%, Scottish 12.1%, French 11%, Irish 12.1%, German 8.1%, Chinese 4.7%, Italian 4.3%, First Nations 1.7%, Indian 3.7%, Ukrainian 3.5%, Metis 1.5%
- Language Note
English (official) 87.1%, French (official) 29.1%, Chinese languages 4.2%, Spanish 3.2%, Punjabi 2.6%, Arabic 2.4%, Tagalog 2.3%, Italian 1.5%
- Nationality Noun
- Canadian(s) adjective: Canadian
Education
- Literacy Definition
Age 15 and over can read and write
- Education Expenditures - percent of GDP
5.2%
- Total School Life Expectancy - (primary to tertiary)
- total: 17
- years male: 16
- years female: 17 years
Health & living conditions
- Life Expectancy at Birth
- total population: 84.2
- years male: 81.9
- years female: 86.6 years
- Infant Mortality Rate
- total: 4.3 deaths/1,000
- live births male: 4.5 deaths/1,000
- live births female: 4 deaths/1,000 live births
- Infant Mortality Rate - total deaths/1,000 live births
- total: 4.3 deaths/1,000
- live births male: 4.5 deaths/1,000
- live births female: 4 deaths/1,000 live births
- Maternal Mortality Rate - deaths/100,000 live births
11
- Physicians Density - physicians/1,000 population
2.44
- Hospital Bed Density - beds/1,000 population
2.5
- Health Expenditures - percent of GDP
12.9%
- Obesity - adult prevalence rate
29.4%
- Tobacco Use
- total: 13%
- male: 15.3%
- female: 10.7%
- Alcohol consumption per capita
- total: 8
- liters of pure alcohol beer: 3.5
- liters of pure alcohol wine: 2
- liters of pure alcohol spirits: 2.1
- liters of pure alcohol other alcohols: 0.4 liters of pure alcohol
- Drinking Water Source - percent of urban population improved
- urban: 99.3%
- of population rural: 99.1%
- of population total: 99.2%
- urban: 0.7%
- of population rural: 0.9%
- of population total: 0.8% of population
- Sanitation Facility Access - percent of urban population improved
- urban: 99.1%
- of population rural: 98.9%
- of population total: 99%
- urban: 0.9%
- of population rural: 1.1%
- of population total: 1% of population