Common-law unions more popular in Quebec and the territories

According to the 2011 Census, the largest proportions of census families that were common-law couples were in the three territories and Quebec, which also had the smallest proportions of married couples. In the territories, approximately one-third (32.7%) of the census families in Nunavut were common-law couples; in the Northwest Territories and Yukon, the corresponding proportion was more than one-quarter (28.7% and 25.1% respectively). In Quebec, 31.5% of census families consisted of common law couples, more than double the average for the other provinces (12.1%).
The territories also had the largest proportions of lone-parent families in Canada, at 28.2% in Nunavut, 21.3% in the Northwest Territories and 20.5% in Yukon.
The highest proportions of census families that were married couples were found in Prince Edward Island (72.7%), Ontario (72.3%) and Alberta (72.0%).

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