Demographics of Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is the middle province of Canada's three Prairie provinces. It has an area of 651,900 km² (251,700 mi²) and a population of 1,132,505 (Saskatchewanians) as of 2021. Saskatchewan's population is made of 50.3% women and 49.7% men.^[1] Most of its population lives in the Southern half of the province.

Population density of Saskatchewan, 2016

The most populous city is Saskatoon, with a population of 317,480 (2021) in the Census Metropolitan Area (CMA), followed by the province's capital, Regina, with a population of 249,217 (2021) in the CMA. The province's population makeup is also notable for German Canadians being the largest European ethnic group and for the second-largest proportion of people of indigenous descent of any of the provinces, after Manitoba.

Population history

Year	Population	Five-year % change	Ten-year % change	Rank among provinces
1901	91,279†	n/a	n/a	8
1911	492,432	n/a	439.5	3
1921	757,510	n/a	53.8	3
1931	921,785	n/a	21.7	3
1941	895,992	n/a	−2.8	3
1951	831,728	n/a	−7.2	5
1956	880,665	5.9	n/a	5
1961	925,181	5.1	11.2	5
1966	955,344	3.3	8.5	6
1971	926,242	−3.0	0.1	6
1976	921,325	−0.5	3.6	6
1981	968,313	5.1	4.5	6
1986	1,009,613	4.3	9.6	6
1991	988,928	−2.0	2.1	6
1996	976,615	−1.2	−3.3	6
2001	978,933	0.2	−1.0	6
2006	985,386	0.7	0.9	6
2011	1,053,960	7.0	7.6	6
2016	1,098,352	6.3	11.4	6
2021	1,132,505	3.5	7.5	6

† 1901 population for District of Saskatchewan and District of Athabasca, parts of the then-named North-West Territories.

Source: Statistics Canada.^[2][3]

Ethnic origins

Ethnic groups in Saskatchewan (1941–2021)

Ethnic group	2021[4]		2001[5]		1941[6]: 2–3
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
German	272,475	24.7%	275,060	28.56%	130,258	14.54%
English	219,660	19.91%	235,715	24.47%	186,053	20.77%
Scottish	175,590	15.92%	172,300	17.89%	108,919	12.16%
Irish	145,415	13.18%	139,205	14.45%	95,852	10.7%
Ukrainian	138,705	12.57%	121,735	12.64%	79,777	8.9%
First Nations	129,225	11.71%	102,285	10.62%	13,384	1.49%
French	108,505	9.84%	109,800	11.4%	50,530	5.64%
Norwegian	70,215	6.36%	60,510	6.28%	38,213	4.26%
Métis	56,060	5.08%	40,110	4.16%	9,160	1.02%
Polish	55,600	5.04%	51,445	5.34%	27,902	3.11%
Filipino	40,160	3.64%	3,275	0.34%	—	—
Russian	35,920	3.26%	27,695	2.88%	25,933	2.89%
Swedish	31,960	2.9%	29,900	3.1%	20,961	2.34%
Dutch	29,410	2.67%	32,300	3.35%	35,894	4.01%
Hungarian	28,495	2.58%	24,340	2.53%	14,576	1.63%
Indian	20,755	1.88%	3,245	0.34%	2	0%
Chinese	19,965	1.81%	9,275	0.96%	2,545	0.28%
Austrian	17,690	1.6%	14,450	1.5%	10,655	1.19%
Welsh	17,605	1.6%	13,935	1.45%	6,950	0.78%
Romanian	12,415	1.13%	10,290	1.07%	7,093	0.79%
Italian	10,830	0.98%	7,565	0.79%	1,014	0.11%
Danish	10,585	0.96%	9,375	0.97%	6,027	0.67%
Total responses	1,103,200	97.41%	963,150	98.39%	895,992	100%
Total population	1,132,505	100%	978,933	100%	895,992	100%
Note: Totals greater than 100% due to multiple origin responses

Future projections

Panethnic origin projections in Saskatchewan (2031–2041)^{[7][8][9][10]}

Panethnic group	2031		2036		2041
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
European[a]	768,000	58.31%	751,000	54.46%	733,000	51.04%
Indigenous	246,000	18.68%	263,000	19.07%	279,000	19.43%
South Asian	94,000	7.14%	114,000	8.27%	133,000	9.26%
Southeast Asian[b]	82,000	6.23%	99,000	7.18%	118,000	8.22%
East Asian[c]	45,000	3.42%	51,000	3.7%	56,000	3.9%
African	45,000	3.42%	54,000	3.92%	64,000	4.46%
Middle Eastern[d]	19,000	1.44%	23,000	1.67%	27,000	1.88%
Latin American	9,000	0.68%	11,000	0.8%	13,000	0.91%
Other/multiracial[e]	10,000	0.76%	12,000	0.87%	14,000	0.97%
Projected Saskatchewan population	1,317,000	100%	1,379,000	100%	1,436,000	100%

Visible minorities and Indigenous peoples

Indigenous and visible minority identity (2021):^[11]

1. European Canadian (68.5%)
2. Visible minority (14.4%)
3. First Nations (11%)
4. Métis (5.7%)
5. Other Indigenous (0.3%)

Visible minority and Indigenous population (Canada 2021 Census)[12]
Population group		Population	%
European[a]		755,950	68.5%
Visible minority group	South Asian	44,720	4.1%
	Chinese	18,010	1.6%
	Black	22,570	2.0%
	Filipino	43,755	4.0%
	Arab	5,575	0.5%
	Latin American	5,680	0.5%
	Southeast Asian	8,540	0.8%
	West Asian	2,830	0.3%
	Korean	1,850	0.2%
	Japanese	830	0.1%
	Visible minority, n.i.e.	1,275	0.1%
	Multiple visible minorities	3,725	0.3%
Total visible minority population		159,365	14.4%
Indigenous group	First Nations (North American Indian)	121,175	11.0%
	Métis	62,800	5.7%
	Inuk (Inuit)	460	0.0%
	Multiple Indigenous responses	2,030	0.2%
	Indigenous responses n.i.e.	1,425	0.1%
Total Indigenous population		187,885	17.0%
Total population		1,103,200	100.0%

Languages

Knowledge of languages

Knowledge of official languages of Canada in Saskatchewan (2016)
Language			Percent
English only			94.48%
French only			0.05%
English and French			4.74%
Neither English nor French			0.73%

The question on knowledge of languages allows for multiple responses. The following figures are from the 2021 Canadian Census and the 2016 Canadian Census, and lists languages that were selected by at least one per cent of respondents.

Knowledge of languages in Saskatchewan

Language	2021[13]		2016
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
English	1,094,785	99.24%	1,062,275	99.23%
French	52,065	4.72%	51,325	4.79%
Tagalog	36,125	3.27%	28,655	2.68%
Cree[note 1]	24,850	2.25%	21,870	2.04%
Hindi	15,745	1.43%	N/A	<1%
Punjabi	13,310	1.21%	N/A	<1%
German	11,815	1.07%	17,390	1.62%
Mandarin	11,590	1.05%	N/A	<1%
Spanish	11,185	1.01%	N/A	<1%
Ukrainian	10,795	0.98%	13,090	1.22%
Urdu	10,540	0.96%	N/A	<1%

Mother tongue

Languages of Saskatchewan (2016):^[14]

1. English (82.4%)
2. French (1.4%)
3. Other language (14.5%)
4. Multiple (1.7%)

The 2006 census showed a population of 968,157. Of the 946,250 singular responses to the census question concerning mother tongue the languages most commonly reported were:

Mother tongue in Saskatchewan

Language	2006		2001		1931[15]: 1176–1187
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
English	811,275	85.7%	817,955	85.8%	516,342	56.02%
German	28,555	3.0%	32,515	3.4%	138,499	15.03%
Algonquian languages	26,525	2.8%	23,735	2.5%	—	—
Cree	24,255	2.6%	22,055	2.1%	—	—
Ojibway	1,745	0.2%	1,375	0.1%	—	—
Ukrainian	16,350	1.7%	19,650	2.1%	70,545	7.65%
French	16,060	1.7%	17,775	1.9%	42,283	4.59%
Chinese	7,475	0.8%	6,015	0.6%	2,500	0.27%
Cantonese	1,720	0.2%	1,425	0.2%	—	—
Mandarin	715	0.1%	395	<0.1%	—	—
Athapaskan languages	7,145	0.8%	6,315	0.7%	—	—
Dene	7,135	0.8%	6,310	0.7%	—	—
Polish	2,510	0.4%	3,015	0.3%	18,742	2.03%
Hungarian	2,190	0.2%	2,700	0.3%	11,853	1.29%
Tagalog (Filipino/Pilipino)	2,170	0.2%	1,545	0.2%	—	—
Dutch	1,785	0.2%	1,930	0.20%	10,079	1.09%
Scandinavian languages	1,690	0.2%	2,320	0.2%	50,634	5.49%
Norwegian	830	0.1%	1,260	0.1%	27,996	3.04%
Danish	420	<0.1%	430	0.1%	3,882	0.42%
Swedish	355	<0.1%	525	0.1%	15,556	1.69%
Arabic	1,525	0.12%	1,090	0.11%	571	0.06%
Russian	1,400	0.2%	1,440	0.2%	17,085	1.85%
Vietnamese	1,305	0.1%	1,390	0.2%	—	—
Serbo-Croatian languages	1,250	0.1%	1,235	0.1%	956	0.1%
Croatian	450	0.1%	435	0.1%	—	—
Bosnian	335	<0.1%	N	N	—	—
Serbian	270	<0.1%	210	<0.1%	—	—
Serbo-Croatian	195	<0.1%	590	0.1%	—	—
Greek	1,060	0.1%	980	0.1%	370	0.04%
Panjabi (Punjabi)	850	0.1%	540	0.1%	7	0%
Persian	785	0.1%	415	<0.1%	—	—
Romanian	770	0.1%	775	0.1%	6,170	0.67%
Italian	735	0.1%	895	0.1%	692	0.08%
Korean	675	0.1%	425	<0.1%	—	—
Germanic languages n.i.e.	605	0.1%	375	<0.1%	8,619[f]	0.94%
Siouan languages (Dakota/Sioux)	410	<0.1%	345	<0.1%	—	—
African languages n.i.e.	405	<0.1%	130	0.01%	—	—
Portuguese	380	<0.1%	405	<0.1%	—	—
Finnish	365	<0.1%	435	<0.1%	1,861	0.2%
Hindi	355	<0.1%	320	<0.1%	—	—
Lao	340	<0.1%	275	0.03%	—	—
Urdu	330	<0.1%	425	<0.1%	—	—
Bantu languages	325	<0.1%	170	<0.1%	—	—
Swahili	105	<0.1%	110	<0.1%	—	—
Czech	325	<0.1%	415	<0.1%	1,156	0.13%
Berber	310	<0.1%	185	<0.1%	—	—
Japanese	290	<0.1%	185	<0.1%	1,070	0.12%
Niger–Congo languages n.i.e.	285	<0.1%	100	<0.1%	—	—
Tigrigna	215	<0.1%	190	<0.1%	—	—
Gujarati	210	<0.1%	225	0.02%	—	—
Slovak	210	<0.1%	100	<0.1%	1,156	0.13%
Somali	210	<0.1%	35	<0.1%	—	—
Bengali	190	<0.1%	70	<0.1%	—	—

Note: "n.i.e.": not included elsewhere

There were also 175 single-language responses for Non-verbal languages (Sign languages); 170 for Amharic; 155 for Turkish; 140 for Sinhala; 135 for Slavic languages n.i.e.; 130 for Slovenian; 120 for Pashto; 115 for Malay; 115 for Malayalam; 115 for Thai; 110 for Ilocano; 110 for Khmer; 100 for Celtic languages; and 100 for Sino-Tibetan languages n.i.e. In addition there were also 6,080 responses of both English and a non-official language; 245 of both French and a non-official language; 1,130 of both English and French; and 140 of English, French and a non-official language. Figures shown are for the number of single language responses and the percentage of total single-language responses.^[16]

Religion

Religious groups in Saskatchewan (1981–2021)

Religious group	2021[17]		2011[18]		2001[19]		1991[20]		1981[21]
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Christianity	621,250	56.31%	726,920	72.06%	795,935	82.64%	858,120	87.92%	889,820	93.03%
Irreligion	403,960	36.62%	246,305	24.42%	151,450	15.72%	107,225	10.99%	60,255	6.3%
Islam	25,455	2.31%	10,040	1%	2,230	0.23%	1,185	0.12%	1,120	0.12%
Indigenous spirituality	16,300	1.48%	12,240	1.21%	—	—	—	—	—	—
Hinduism	14,150	1.28%	3,570	0.35%	1,590	0.17%	1,680	0.17%	1,150	0.12%
Sikhism	9,040	0.82%	1,650	0.16%	500	0.05%	565	0.06%	220	0.02%
Buddhism	4,410	0.4%	4,265	0.42%	3,055	0.32%	1,885	0.19%	985	0.1%
Judaism	1,105	0.1%	940	0.09%	865	0.09%	1,370	0.14%	1,585	0.17%
Other	7,540	0.68%	2,810	0.28%	7,525	0.78%	4,000	0.41%	1,065	0.11%
Total responses	1,103,205	97.41%	1,008,760	95.71%	963,150	98.39%	976,040	98.7%	956,440	98.77%
Total population	1,132,505	100%	1,053,960	100%	978,933	100%	988,928	100%	968,313	100%

Migration

Immigration

Saskatchewan Immigration Statistics^{[22]: 239 [23]: 108}

Year	Immigrant percentage	Immigrant population	Total population
1901	39.7%	36,195	91,279
1911	49.5%	243,681	492,432
1921	39.6%	299,677	757,510
1931	34.6%	318,545	921,785
1941	26.7%	238,903	895,992
1951	21.1%	175,829	831,728
1961	16.1%	149,389	925,181
1971	12%	110,690	926,240

The 2021 census reported that immigrants (individuals born outside Canada) comprise 137,615 persons or 12.5 percent of the total population of Saskatchewan.^[24]

Immigrants in Saskatchewan by country of birth

Country of birth	2021[25][24]		2016[26]		2011[27][28]		2006[29][30]		2001[31][32]
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Philippines	35,955	26.1%	26,865	23.9%	12,775	18.6%	2,455	5.1%	2,065	4.3%
India	15,660	11.4%	9,630	8.6%	3,080	4.5%	1,685	3.5%	1,100	2.3%
China	8,650	6.3%	7,485	6.7%	4,625	6.7%	3,405	7.1%	2,730	5.7%
Pakistan	7,110	5.2%	6,860	6.1%	3,115	4.5%	330	0.7%	385	0.8%
United Kingdom	6,785	4.9%	7,020	6.2%	7,370	10.7%	7,685	16%	8,450	17.7%
United States of America	5,215	3.8%	4,845	4.3%	5,020	7.3%	5,425	11.3%	5,865	12.3%
Nigeria	5,030	3.7%	1,695	1.5%	535	0.8%	235	0.5%	95	0.2%
Vietnam	3,245	2.4%	2,620	2.3%	1,770	2.6%	1,295	2.7%	1,465	3.1%
Bangladesh	3,230	2.3%	2,575	2.3%	840	1.2%	60	0.1%	65	0.1%
Ukraine	3,170	2.3%	3,280	2.9%	1,715	2.5%	1,055	2.2%	1,395	2.9%
Total immigrants	137,615	12.5%	112,490	10.5%	68,780	6.8%	48,160	5%	47,825	5%
Total responses	1,103,205	97.4%	1,070,560	97.5%	1,008,760	95.7%	953,850	96.8%	963,150	98.4%
Total population	1,132,505	100%	1,098,352	100%	1,053,960	100%	985,386	100%	978,933	100%

Recent immigration

The 2021 Canadian census counted a total of 43,120 people who immigrated to Saskatchewan between 2016 and 2021.^[24]

Recent immigrants to Saskatchewan by country of birth (2016 to 2021)[24]
Country of birth	Population	% recent immigrants
Philippines	10,460	24.3%
India	7,940	18.4%
China	3,685	8.5%
Nigeria	3,305	7.7%
Pakistan	1,685	3.9%
Syria	1,240	2.9%
Bangladesh	1,225	2.8%
United States of America	990	2.3%
Vietnam	865	2%
South Africa	775	1.8%
Total	43,120	100%

Interprovincial migration

Net cumulative interprovincial migration per Province from 1997 to 2017, as a share of population of each Provinces

Main article: Interprovincial migration in Canada

Interprovincial migration has long been a demographic challenge for Saskatchewan, and it was often said that "Saskatchewan's most valuable export [was] its young people".^[33] The trend reversed in 2006 as the nascent oil fracking industry started growing in the province, but returned to negative net migration starting in 2013. Most people migrating from Saskatchewan move west to Alberta or British Columbia.^[34]

Interprovincial migration in Saskatchewan

	In-migrants	Out-migrants	Net migration
2008–09	18,127	15,144	2,983
2009–10	17,237	15,084	2,153
2010–11	16,602	16,057	545
2011–12	19,386	17,508	1,878
2012–13	16,982	16,590	392
2013–14	16,371	18,210	−1,839
2014–15	15,346	19,874	−4,528
2015–16	15,260	19,532	−4,272
2016–17	13,130	18,890	−5,760
2017–18	11,637	20,112	−8,475
2018–19	11,637	23,607	−9,688

Source: Statistics Canada

See also

BC

AB

SK

MB

ON

QC

NB

PE

NS

NL

YT

NT

NU

Demographics of Canada's provinces and territories

• Demographics of Canada
• Population of Canada by province and territory

Notes

1. Statistic includes all persons that did not make up part of a visible minority or an Indigenous identity.
2. Statistic includes total responses of "Filipino" and "Southeast Asian" under visible minority section on census.
3. Statistic includes total responses of "Chinese", "Korean", and "Japanese" under visible minority section on census.
4. Statistic includes total responses of "West Asian" and "Arab" under visible minority section on census.
5. Statistic includes total responses of "Visible minority, n.i.e." and "Multiple visible minorities" under visible minority section on census.
6. Including Flemish (2,029), Austrian not otherwise specified (1,510), and Yiddish (5,011)

1. Includes Cree-Montagnais languages not otherwise specified