Structure and Change in Canada's Rural Demography: An Update to 2006

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By Ray D. Bollman and Heather A. Clemenson, Statistics Canada

 

Highlights

  • For Canada as a whole, the rural population is growing.

  • Most, but not all, of the growth is in areas adjacent to metro areas.

  • Growth of the rural population is less than the growth in urban areas. Thus the rural share of Canada's total population continues to decline.

  • The rural population is not growing in all provinces. Each province and territory has reported rural population growth and rural population decline in recent decades.

  • Depending on how rural is defined, in 2006, 19% to 30% of Canadians were living in a rural area.