Mother's Day... by the numbers

2015

Mother's Day is Sunday, May 10.

Here are selected facts on mothers in Canada.

(Last updated: April 30, 2015)

Mothers in Canada

  • 9.8 million — The total number of mothers in Canada (including biological, adoptive and stepmothers) in 2011.
Number of mothers in Canada (including biological, adoptive and stepmothers), by province, 2011
  Number (thousands) Percent
Canada 9,821 100.0
Newfoundland and Labrador 164 1.7
Prince Edward Island 43 0.4
Nova Scotia 293 3.0
New Brunswick 226 2.3
Quebec 2,279 23.2
Ontario 3,783 38.5
Manitoba 349 3.6
Saskatchewan 305 3.1
Alberta 1,059 10.8
British Columbia 1,320 13.4
Source: Statistics Canada, General Social Survey, 2011.
  • 4.1 million — The number of mothers in Canada with children under 18 living with them (including biological, adoptive and stepmothers) in 2011.
Number of mothers in Canada with children under 18 living with them (including biological, adoptive and stepmothers), by province, 2011
  Number (thousands) Percent
Canada 4,088 100.0
Newfoundland and Labrador 55 1.3
Prince Edward Island 16 0.4
Nova Scotia 106 2.6
New Brunswick 81 2.0
Quebec 910 22.3
Ontario 1,596 39.0
Manitoba 162 4.0
Saskatchewan 127 3.1
Alberta 510 12.5
British Columbia 525 12.9
Source: Statistics Canada, General Social Survey, 2011.

Source: General Social Survey - Family, 2011 (Cycle 25).

Time with the family

  • 421 minutes — The average amount of time that women spent per day with their family in 2010.
  • 374 minutes — The average amount of time that women spent per day with their family in 2005.
  • 403 minutes — The average amount of time that women spent per day with their family in 1986.

Source: General Social Survey.

Newborns

  • 385,937 — The total number of estimated births in Canada in 2013/2014.

Source: Summary tables Births, estimates, by province and territory

See also: "Canada's population estimates: Age and sex, 2014," The Daily, Friday, September 26, 2014.

  • 377,636 — The total number of live births registered in Canada in 2011.

Source: "Births and stillbirths, 2011," The Daily, Tuesday, March 19, 2013.

  • 29.7 years — The average age of mothers at childbearing (live births) in Canada in 2011.

Source: CANSIM, table 102-4504.

  • 28.3 years — The average age of fathers at the time of the birth of their first biological child in Canada in 2011.

Source: Social and Aboriginal Statistics Division, Statistics Canada.

See also: Summary tables, Tables by subject: Pregnancy and births.

Fertility rates then and now

  • 6.56 — The estimated total fertility rate in 1851.
  • 1.61 — The estimated total fertility rate in 2011.

Source: Canadian Megatrends, "Fertility: Fewer children, older moms," released Thursday, November 13, 2014.

Breastfeeding

  • 90.3% — The proportion of mothers in 2012 who had a baby in the last five years and who breastfed or tried to breastfeed their baby
  • 24.2% — The proportion of mothers in 2012 who had a baby in the last 5 years who exclusively breastfed their baby for 6 months.

Sources: CANSIM, table 105-0501.

See also: "Study: Breastfeeding Trends in Canada, 2003 and 2011/2012," The Daily, Monday, November 25, 2013.

Maternity leave

Coverage and eligibility of mothers for maternity or parental benefits have been relatively unchanged since 2003.

  • 77% —The proportion of all recent mothers (those with a child aged 12 months or less) that had insurable employment.

Source: "Employment Insurance Coverage Survey, 2013," The Daily, Monday, January 19, 2015.

Children's living arrangements after separation or divorce

  • 70% — The proportion of children whose primary residence after a separation or divorce was their mother's home.
  • 15% — The proportion of children whose primary residence after a separation or divorce was their father's home.
  • 9% — The proportion of children who had equal living time between the two parents' homes.
  • 6% — The proportion of children who had other living arrangements.

Source: "Study: Parenting and child support after separation or divorce, 2011," The Daily, Wednesday, February 12, 2014.

Adoptions

  • 537,000 — The number of people in Canada who reported in 2011 that they had adopted children.
  • 59% — The percentage of adoptive parents who had at least one biological child.

Source: General Social Survey - Family, 2011 (Cycle 25).

  • 2,100 — The number of international adoptions in Canada in 2009. China was the primary source country for adoptions.

Source: Report on the Demographic Situation in Canada, Migration, International, 2009.

Stepfamilies

Stepfamilies were counted for the first time in the 2011 Census of Population.

  • 464,335 — The number of stepfamilies with at least one child aged 24 and under in 2011. They represented 12.6% of the nearly 3.7 million couple families with children.

Of these stepfamilies, 271,930 were simple stepfamilies, that is, those in which all children are the children of one and only one married spouse or common-law partner in the couple and whose birth or adoption preceded the current relationship. They accounted for 7.4% of couples with children.

The remaining 192,410 were complex stepfamilies, consisting of all other stepfamily types. Complex stepfamilies accounted for 5.2% of all couples with children.

Source: 2011 Census of Population: Families, households, marital status, structural type of dwelling, collectives.

Stepparents

  • About 41,700 — The number of children in Canada aged 1 to 7 who lived with their stepfather and biological mother in 2010.
  • About 7,200 — The number of children in Canada aged 1 to 7 who lived with their biological father and stepmother in 2010.

Source: Survey of Young Canadians, 2010/2011.

See also: "Study: Profile of parents in stepfamilies, 2011," The Daily, Thursday, October 18, 2012.

Lone parents

  • 1,527,840 — The total number of lone-parent families in Canada in 2011.
  • 21% — The proportion of male lone-parent families in Canada in 2011.
  • 79% — The proportion of female lone-parent families in Canada in 2011.

Among lone-parent families, growth was more than twice as strong between 2006 and 2011 for male lone-parent families (+16.2%) compared with female lone-parent families (+6.0%).

Source: "2011 Census of Population: Families, households, marital status, structural type of dwelling, collectives," The Daily, Wednesday, September 19, 2012.

The predominance of female lone parents has varied considerably over time. While lone parents have always been more likely to be female, in the early decades of the 20th century, relatively high maternal mortality contributed to proportionally more male lone parents.

60% — The proportion of children living with a female lone parent in 1901.
71.9% — The proportion of children living with a female lone parent in 1941.
83.4% — The proportion of children living with a female lone parent in 1991.
79.9% — The proportion of children living with a female lone parent in 2011.

Source: Canadian Megatrends, "Lone-parent families: The new face of an old phenomenon," released February 24, 2015.

To learn more about families over the last 100 years, see "Study: Living arrangements of children in Canada, 1901 to 2011," The Daily, Tuesday, April 29, 2014.

Grandparents

  • 600,000 — The number of grandparents aged 45 and older, or about 8% of all grandparents in this age group in Canada, who lived in the same household as their grandchildren.
  • 12% — The proportion of grandparents aged 45 and older living with their grandchildren in which there was no middle-generation present.

Source: "Study: Grandparents living with their grandchildren, 2011," The Daily, Tuesday, April 14, 2015.

Thanks, Mom!

  • 317.1 million — The number of cut flowers (including alstroemeria, chrysanthemums, daffodils, freesia, gerberas, iris, roses, snapdragons, tulips, lilies, lisianthus and other cut flowers) produced by greenhouses in Canada in 2014.

Source: CANSIM, table 001-0049.

Happy Mother's Day from Statistics Canada!

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