1971 Canadian census

The 1971 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population. Census day was June 1, 1971. ^[1]

1971 Canadian census
← 1966 June 1, 1971 1976 →
General information
Country	Canada
Results
Total population	21,568,311 (7.8 )
Most populous province/territory	Ontario (7,703,106)
Least populous province/territory	Yukon (18,388)

On that day, Statistics Canada attempted to count every person in Canada. The total population count was 21,568,311. This was a 7.8% increase over the 1966 Census of 20,014,880.^[2]

Canada by the numbers

A summary of information about Canada.^[3][4]

Total population	21,568,311
Dwellings	6,034,508
Men	10,795,369
Women	10,772,942

Census summary

This census was the first time Statistics Canada organized the event as the Dominion Bureau of Statistics changed its name on August 3, 1971, due to the Statistics Act on May 1, 1970. One of the reasons it did this is because the word Dominion cannot be well translated into French. ^[5]

Canada experienced one of its biggest census growths with the population increasing by 7.8% from 20,014,880 in 1966 to 21,568,311.

The Northwest Territories and Yukon's populations soared rising above the national average with the Northwest Territories 17.4% and Yukon 21.7%. British Columbia and Alberta's populations also saw substantial growth, both going over the national average for British Columbia to grow 14.2% and Alberta 10.1%.

The census also revealed a rise in the number of immigrants living in the country. 1,347,155 or 6.2% of the population compared to 1,055,818 or 5.2% in 1966. ^[6] Ontario was the most diverse province with 9.9% of inhabitants reporting citizenship other than Canadian. Newfoundland, as it was called before 2001, was the least diverse province with 99.1% of the population having Canadian citizenship.^[7][8] 60.1% of people claimed English as their mother tongue compared to 58.4% a decade earlier. Canadians who claimed French as their mother tongue, however, shrunk from 28% to 26.8%.^[9][10]

Population by province

The population of each province in Canada:^[11]

Rank	Province or territory	Population as of 1971 census	Population as of 1966 census	Change	Percent change
1	Ontario	7,703,106	6,960,870	742,236	9.6
2	Quebec	6,027,764	5,780,845	246,919	4.0
3	British Columbia	2,184,621	1,873,674	310,947	14.2
4	Alberta	1,627,874	1,463,203	164,671	10.1
5	Manitoba	988,247	963,066	25,181	2.5
6	Saskatchewan	926,242	955,344	-29,102	-3.0
7	Nova Scotia	788,960	756,039	32,921	4.2
8	New Brunswick	634,557	616,788	17,769	2.8
9	Newfoundland	522,104	493,396	28,708	5.5
10	Prince Edward Island	111,641	108,535	3,106	2.8
11	Northwest Territories	34,807	28,738	6,069	17.4
12	Yukon	18,388	14,382	4,006	21.7
	Canada	21,568,311	20,014,880	1,553,431	7.2

Mother tongue

Population by mother tongue: ^[12][13]

Mother tongue	Population as of 1971 census	Population as of 1966 census	Change	Percent change
English	12,973,810	10,660,534	2,313,276	21,71
French	5,793,650	5,123,151	670,499	26,9
German	561,085	563,713	2,628	-0,47
Italian	538,360	339,626	198,734	58.52
Ukrainian	309,855	361,496	51,641	-14,29
Other	1,391,551	1,645,932	254,381	18.29

See also

• Population and housing censuses by country