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Births continued an upward trend but at a slower pace while fertility decreased

  1. For the seventh consecutive year, the number of live births in Canada increased, reaching 380,863 in 2009. However, the upward trend slowed down from the annual increase of 2.7% in 2008 to 0.8% in 2009.
  2. In 2009, for the first time since 2002, the fertility of Canadian women showed a decrease from the previous year down to 1.67 children per woman.
  3. Nunavut, the Northwest Territories and Saskatchewan had the highest fertility in the country with more than two children per woman on average. In contrast, Nova Scotia and British Columbia had the lowest fertility of the country.

Births are still up in most Canadian regions, but down in five regions

  1. From 2008 to 2009, the gain in the number of births from most regions had offset the loss from other regions. Quebec had the largest rise in the number of births and Ontario had the largest decline.
  2. Nunavut presented the largest relative increase in births and Nova Scotia the largest relative decrease.

Fertility was highest for women in their early thirties

  1. For the fifth consecutive year, the age-specific fertility rate for women aged 30 to 34 was the highest (107 births per 1,000 women).
  2. From 2008 to 2009, while the age-specific fertility rate of Canadian women decreased for younger age groups, it increased in the two older age groups: 35 to 39 and 40 to 44 years. The highest augmentation occurred for women aged 40 to 44, from 8.4 to 9.2 births per 1,000 women.

Fertility of first-time mothers peaked in their late twenties

  1. From 1999 to 2009, the peak age group of fertility has been shifting from younger to older age groups. The fertility rate of women who were first-time mothers also showed the same trend, although the transition is more gradual.
  2. During this ten-year period, the modal age of fertility of first-time mothers remained in the 25 to 29 age group in 2009, while the modal age of fertility for all mothers had shifted from those aged 25 to 29 to 30 to 34.
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