Demographics of Ontario

Ontario, one of the 13 provinces and territories of Canada, is located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province by a large margin, accounting for nearly 40 percent of all Canadians, and is the second-largest province in total area. Ontario is fourth-largest in total area when the territories of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut are included. It is home to the nation's capital city, Ottawa, and the nation's most populous city, Toronto.

Population Density of Ontario in 2016

Vital statistics

Birth Rate: 9.7/1,000 people (2021)^[1]

Death Rate: 8.1/1,000 people (2021)^[1]

Life Expectancy at birth: 81 years (2006 est)^[2]

Infant Mortality rate: 5.2 (2007 est)^[3]

Age structure

Age Groups	Total	Percentage	Male	Female
0 to 4 years	723,016	4.91%	370,982	352,034
5 to 9 years	762,654	5.18%	389,331	373,323
10 to 14 years	792,947	5.38%	403,611	389,336
15 to 19 years	852,405	5.79%	436,529	415,876
20 to 24 years	1,039,661	7.06%	543,213	496,448
25 to 29 years	1,077,433	7.31%	555,954	521,479
30 to 34 years	1,041,952	7.07%	527,137	514,815
35 to 39 years	992,844	6.74%	493,399	499,445
40 to 44 years	921,378	6.25%	446,692	474,686
45 to 49 years	932,058	6.33%	454,915	477,143
50 to 54 years	968,546	6.57%	478,610	489,936
55 to 59 years	1,073,519	7.29%	532,834	540,685
60 to 64 years	961,243	6.52%	469,926	491,317
65 to 69 years	803,962	5.46%	383,637	420,325
70 to 74 years	673,546	4.57%	316,777	356,769
75 to 79 years	461,015	3.13%	212,100	248,915
80 to 84 years	319,548	2.17%	140,109	179,439
85 to 89 years	204,227	1.39%	81,946	122,281
90 to 94 years	98,638	0.67%	33,530	65,108
95 to 99 years	29,527	0.20%	7,515	22,012
100 years and over	3,895	0.03%	701	3,194
Total	14,734,014	100%	7,279,448	7,454,566

^[4]

Population history

See or edit source data.

Year	Population	5 year % change	10 year % change	% Canadian population
1824	150,066	-	-	n/a
1830	213,156	-	-	n/a
1840	432,159	-	102.7%	39.93%[a]
1851	952,004	-	-	51.32%[a]
1861	1,396,091	-	46.6%	55.58%[a]
1871	1,620,851	-	16.1%	43.9%
1881	1,926,922	-	18.8%	45.4%
1891	2,114,321	-	9.7%	48.9%
1901	2,182,947	-	3.2%	40.6%
1911	2,527,292	-	15.8%	35.1%
1921	2,933,662	-	16.1%	33.4%
1931	3,431,683	-	17.0%	33.1%
1941	3,787,655	-	10.4%	32.9%
1951	4,597,542	-	21.3%	32.8%
1956	5,404,933	17.6%	-	33.6%
1961	6,236,092	15.4%	35.6%	34.2%
1966	6,960,870	11.6%	28.8%	34.9%
1971	7,703,105	10.7%	23.5%	35.7%
1976	8,264,465	7.3%	18.7%	35.9%
1981	8,625,107	4.4%	12.0%	35.4%
1986	9,101,695	5.5%	10.1%	36.0%
1991	10,084,885	10.8%	16.9%	36.9%
1996	10,753,573	10.7%	18.2%	37.3%
2001	11,410,046	6.1%	13.2%	38.0%
2006	12,160,282	6.6%	13.1%	38.4%
2011	12,851,821	5.7%	12.6%	38.4%
2016	13,448,494	4.6%	9.6%	38.3%
2021	14,223,942	5.8%	9.7%	38.5%

Source: Statistics Canada^[5]

• ^a  % Province of Canada population^[6]

Population geography

Census Metropolitan Areas

City	2021[7]	2016[8]	2011[9]	2006[10]	2001[11]	1996[12]	1991[12]
Toronto	6,202,225	5,928,040	5,583,064	5,113,149	4,682,897	4,263,757	3,898,933
Ottawa-Gatineau	1,488,307	1,323,783	1,236,324	1,130,761	1,063,664	1,010,498	941,814
Hamilton	785,184	747,545	721,053	692,911	662,401	624,360	599,760
Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo	575,847	523,894	477,160	451,235	414,284	382,940	356,421
London	543,551	494,069	474,786	457,720	432,451	398,616	381,522
St. Catharines-Niagara	433,604	406,074	392,184	390,317	377,009	372,406	364,552
Windsor	422,630	329,144	319,246	323,342	307,877	278,685	262,075
Oshawa	415,311	379,848	356,177	330,594	296,298	268,773	240,104
Barrie	212,856	197,059	187,013	177,061	148,480	118,695	97,150
Kingston	172,546	161,175	159,561	152,358	146,838	143,416	136,401
Greater Sudbury	170,605	164,689	160,770	158,258	155,601	160,488	157,613
Guelph	165,588	151,984	141,097	127,009	117,344	105,420	97,667
Brantford	144,162	134,203	135,501	124,607	86,417	100,238	97,106
Peterborough	128,624	121,721	118,975	|102,423	100,193	98,060	-
Thunder Bay	123,258	121,621	121,596	122,907	121,986	125,562	124,925
Belleville	111,184	103,472	101,668	91,518	87,395	87,871	-
Chatham-Kent	104,316	102,042	104,075	108,589	107,709	-	-

Ethnic origins

As of 2016 census.^[13]

Ethnic group	Responses	%
Canadian	3,109,770	23.48
English	2,808,810	21.21
Scottish	2,107,290	15.91
Irish	2,095,465	15.82
French	1,349,255	10.19
German	1,189,670	8.98
Italian	931,805	7.04
Chinese	849,340	6.41
East Indian	774,495	5.85
Dutch (Netherlands)	527,750	3.99
Polish	523,490	3.95
First Nations	385,505	2.91
Ukrainian	376,440	2.84
Filipino	337,760	2.55
Portuguese	324,930	2.45
British, not included elsewhere	323,180	2.44
Jamaican	257,055	1.94
Russian	220,850	1.67
Welsh	198,470	1.50
Spanish	171,145	1.29
Hungarian (Magyar)	163,500	1.23
Pakistani	149,060	1.13
Greek	148,555	1.12
American (USA)	140,165	1.06
Métis	137,485	1.04

Note: The table takes dual responses (for example if someone is French-Canadian they would be added to both French and Canadian). Some places of one's ethnic origin do not refer to a single specified country of origin, i.e. Spanish refers to people from Spanish speaking countries such as Colombia, Spain, Mexico, Cuba and others; or East Indian where the respondents origin could be from Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, etc.; and the list contains about 200 nationalities known to reside in the province. However, there are options for the respondent to identify the country alone.

As regards ethnic origins and Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) of highest concentration (minimum: 1%):

Ethnic origin	CMA	% of population
Chinese	Toronto	12.0
East Indian	Toronto	11.0
Filipino	Toronto	4.7
Jamaican	Toronto	3.4
Russian	Toronto	2.4
Pakistani	Toronto	2.1
Sri Lankan	Toronto	2.0
Spanish	Toronto	1.8
Greek	Toronto	1.7
Iranian	Toronto	1.7
Korean	Toronto	1.3
Other African origins, n.i.e	Toronto	1.1
Jewish	Toronto	1.0
Haitian	Ottawa-Gatineau	1.1
Croatian	Hamilton	1.9
German	Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo	21.8
Portuguese	Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo	4.1
Romanian	Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo	1.9
Swiss	Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo	1.5
Belgian	London	1.1
Lebanese	Windsor	3.3
Iraqi	Windsor	2.2
American	Windsor	1.7
Serbian	Windsor	1.4
Arab, n.o.s.	Windsor	1.0
British Isles origins, n.i.e.	Barrie	3.7
Canadian	Greater Sudbury	45.6
French	Greater Sudbury	37.7
Vietnamese	Guelph	1.6
Dutch	Brantford	8.0
Hungarian	Brantford	3.2
English	Peterborough	39.1
Irish	Peterborough	32.5
Scottish	Peterborough	26.3
Welsh	Peterborough	2.6
Italian	Thunder Bay	14.0
Ukrainian	Thunder Bay	13.5
Finnish	Thunder Bay	11.4
First Nations	Thunder Bay	10.5
Polish	Thunder Bay	7.1
Swedish	Thunder Bay	4.5
Métis	Thunder Bay	2.9
Norwegian	Thunder Bay	2.8
Slovak	Thunder Bay	2.0
Danish	Thunder Bay	1.1

Future projections

Panethnic origin projections in Ontario (2031–2041)^{[14][15][16][17]}

Panethnic group	2031		2036		2041
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
European[a]	9,335,000	53.62%	9,215,000	50.02%	9,044,000	46.89%
South Asian	2,562,000	14.71%	2,992,000	16.24%	3,371,000	17.48%
East Asian[b]	1,444,000	8.29%	1,583,000	8.59%	1,706,000	8.84%
African	1,133,000	6.51%	1,288,000	6.99%	1,433,000	7.43%
Middle Eastern[c]	858,000	4.93%	1,018,000	5.53%	1,168,000	6.06%
Southeast Asian[d]	784,000	4.5%	897,000	4.87%	1,006,000	5.22%
Indigenous	576,000	3.31%	623,000	3.38%	666,000	3.45%
Latin American	355,000	2.04%	398,000	2.16%	438,000	2.27%
Other/multiracial[e]	364,000	2.09%	410,000	2.23%	456,000	2.36%
Projected Ontario population	17,411,000	100%	18,424,000	100%	19,288,000	100%

Visible minorities and Indigenous peoples

• 
  Indigenous identity in Ontario, 2021
• 
  Visible minority population in Ontario, 2021
• 
  Largest panethnic groups in Ontario by percentage of total population by census division, 2021 census

Visible minority and Indigenous population (2021 Canadian census)				2016 Census		2011 NHS		2006 Census		2001 Census		1996 Census		1991 census[18]	1986 census[18]
Population group		Population	%	Population	%	Population	%	Population	%	Population	%	Population	%	Population	Population
European[nb 1]		8,807,805	62.8%	8,982,180	67.8%	8,930,835	70.6%	8,879,900	73.8%	8,944,190	79.3%	8,714,680	81.9%	–	–
Visible minority group Source:[19]	South Asian	1,515,295	10.8%	1,150,415	8.7%	965,990	7.6%	794,170	6.6%	554,870	4.9%	390,055	3.7%	–	–
	Chinese	820,245	5.8%	754,550	5.7%	629,140	5.0%	576,980	4.8%	481,505	4.3%	391,090	3.7%	–	–
	Black	768,740	5.5%	627,715	4.7%	539,205	4.3%	473,765	3.9%	411,095	3.6%	356,215	3.3%	215,775	158,140
	Filipino	363,650	2.6%	311,675	2.4%	275,380	2.2%	203,220	1.7%	156,515	1.4%	117,365	1.1%	–	–
	Arab	284,215	2.0%	210,435	1.6%	151,645	1.2%	111,405	0.9%	88,540	0.8%			–	–
	Latin American	249,190	1.8%	195,950	1.5%	172,560	1.4%	147,135	1.2%	106,835	0.9%	85,745	0.8%	–	–
	West Asian	212,185	1.5%	154,670	1.2%	122,530	1.0%	96,615	0.8%	67,100	0.6%			–	–
	Southeast Asian	167,845	1.2%	133,855	1%	137,875	1.1%	110,045	0.9%	86,410	0.8%	75,910	0.7%	–	–
	Korean	99,425	0.7%	88,935	0.7%	78,295	0.6%	69,540	0.6%	53,955	0.5%	35,400	0.3%	–	–
	Japanese	31,420	0.2%	30,830	0.2%	29,085	0.2%	28,080	0.2%	24,925	0.2%	24,275	0.2%	–	–
	Arab/West Asian											118,655	1.1%	–	–
	Visible minority, n.i.e.	124,120	0.9%	81,130	0.6%	81,130	0.6%	56,845	0.5%	78,915	0.7%	52,170	0.5%	–	–
	Multiple visible minority	181,025	1.3%	97,970	0.7%	96,735	0.8%	77,405	0.6%	42,375	0.4%	35,160	0.3%	–	–
Total visible minority population		4,817,360	34.3%	3,885,585	29.3%	3,279,565	25.9%	2,745,205	22.8%	2,153,045	19.1%	1,682,045	15.8%	–	–
Indigenous group	First Nations (North American Indian)	251,030	1.8%	236,680	1.8%	338,480	2.7%	311,830	2.5%	131,560	1.2%			–	–
	Métis	134,615	1.0%	120,585	0.9%	89,975	0.7%	81,320	0.7%	48,340	0.4%			–	–
	Inuk (Inuit)	4,310	0.0%	3,860	0%	5,310	0.0%	4,250	0.0%	1,380	0.0%			–	–
	Multiple Indigenous responses	7,115	0.1%	5,730	0%	7,630	0.1%	6,395	0.1%	1,690	0.0%			–	–
	Indigenous responses n.i.e.	9,515	0.1%	7,540	0.1%					5,345	0.0%			–	–
Total Indigenous population		406,585	2.9%	374,395	2.8%	441,395[20]	3.5%	403,790	3.4%	188,315	1.7%	246,065	2.3%	–	–
Total population		14,031,750	100.0%	13,242,160	100.0%	12,651,795	100.0%	12,028,895	100.0%	11,285,550	100.0%	10,642,790	100.0%	–	–

There is a striking difference between the Toronto CMA^{[citation needed]} (5,862,850) and the rest of Ontario (7,379,310); in particular, in the Toronto CMA visible minorities account for 51.4% of the population (3,011,900), whereas in the rest of Ontario the percentage of visible minorities in the overall population is much lower, at 11.8% (873,685). Back in 1996,1,338,095 of 4,232,905 Toronto CMA residents belonged to a visible minority,^[21] i.e. 31.6% of its population; regarding the rest of Ontario, only 343,950 of its 6,409,885 residents, i.e. 5.4%, were visible minorities.^[22]

Language

The following figures are from the 2016 census.^[4] The tables includes languages that were selected by at least 0.99 per cent of respondents. Respondents to the census are able to provide multiple responses for questions relating to knowledge of languages, and mother tongue.

Knowledge of languages

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 official languages of Canada in Ontario (2016)
Language			Percentage
English only			86.05%
French only			0.30%
English and French			11.19%
Neither English nor French			2.46%

Knowledge of languages in Ontario

Language	2021[23]		2016
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
English	13,650,230	97.28%	12,879,045	97.26%
French	1,550,545	11.05%	1,521,020	11.49%
Mandarin	467,420	3.33%	385,452	2.91%
Hindi	436,125	3.11%	250,095	1.89%
Spanish	401,205	2.86%	337,615	2.55%
Punjabi	397,865	2.84%	282,065	2.13%
Cantonese	352,135	2.51%	341,875	2.58%
Arabic	342,860	2.44%	246,015	1.86%
Italian	312,800	2.23%	333,645	2.52%
Urdu	295,175	2.1%	231,500	1.75%
Tagalog	271,445	1.93%	232,935	1.76%
Portuguese	208,575	1.49%	193,520	1.46%
Tamil	192,890	1.37%	157,700	1.19%
German	158,115	1.13%	189,035	1.43%
Russian	155,340	1.11%	N/A	<1%
Gujarati	143,240	1.02%	N/A	<1%
Iranian Persian	138,910[note 1]	0.99%[note 2]	145,465[note 3]	1.10%[note 4]
Polish	134,985	0.96%	142,985	1.08%

Mother tongue

Language	Responses	%[note 5]
Single responses
English	8,902,320	66.87
French	490,715	3.68
Mandarin	283,735	2.13
Cantonese	275,315	2.07
Italian	231,040	1.74
Punjabi	197,060	1.48
Spanish	191,025	1.43
Arabic	171,370	1.29
Urdu	152,385	1.14
Portuguese	150,000	1.13
Tagalog	163,415	1.23
German	131,525	0.99
Multiple responses
English and French	54,045	0.51
English and non-official language	288,285	2.17
French and non-official language	12,565	0.09
English, French, and non-official language	11,010	0.08

Religion

Religion in Ontario in 2011, Statscan National Household Survey

Religious groups in Ontario (1981−2021)

Religious group	2021[24]		2011[25]		2001[26]		1991[27]		1981[28]
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Christianity	7,315,810	52.14%	8,167,295	64.55%	8,413,495	74.55%	8,160,730	81.79%	7,622,530	89.32%
Irreligion	4,433,675	31.6%	2,927,790	23.14%	1,841,290	16.32%	1,247,640	12.51%	620,815	7.27%
Islam	942,990	6.72%	581,950	4.6%	352,525	3.12%	145,560	1.46%	52,110	0.61%
Hinduism	573,700	4.09%	366,720	2.9%	217,560	1.93%	106,705	1.07%	41,655	0.49%
Sikhism	300,435	2.14%	179,765	1.42%	104,790	0.93%	50,085	0.5%	16,645	0.2%
Buddhism	164,215	1.17%	163,750	1.29%	128,320	1.14%	65,325	0.65%	18,595	0.22%
Judaism	196,100	1.4%	195,540	1.55%	190,795	1.69%	175,640	1.76%	148,255	1.74%
Indigenous spirituality	15,985	0.11%	15,905	0.13%	—	—	—	—	—	—
Other	88,845	0.63%	53,080	0.42%	36,770	0.33%	25,370	0.25%	8,805	0.1%
Total responses	14,031,750	98.65%	12,651,795	98.44%	11,285,545	98.91%	9,977,055	98.93%	8,534,260	98.95%
Total population	14,223,942	100%	12,851,821	100%	11,410,046	100%	10,084,885	100%	8,625,107	100%

Migration

Immigration

Ontario is a very diverse province. For example, 54.8% of the population of Toronto was born outside Canada,^[29] which is the second-largest percentage of immigrants in a single city on Earth, after Miami. Hamilton is ranked the third-most diverse urbanized area in Canada (after Toronto and Vancouver).^{[citation needed]}

Ontario immigration^{[30]: 36–37 [31]: 78 [32]: 239 [33]: 108}

Year	Immigrant percentage	Immigrant population	Total population
1851	42%	399,494	952,004
1861	35.3%	493,212	1,396,091
1881	22.2%	427,508	1,926,922
1891	19.1%	403,389	2,114,321
1901	14.8%	324,160	2,182,947
1911	20.1%	507,846	2,527,292
1921	21.9%	641,683	2,933,662
1931	23.4%	804,285	3,431,683
1941	19.4%	733,282	3,787,655
1951	18.5%	849,965	4,597,542
1961	21.7%	1,353,157	6,236,092
1971	22.2%	1,707,400	7,703,110

The 2021 census reported that immigrants (individuals born outside Canada) comprise 4,206,585 persons or 30.0 percent of the total population of Ontario.^[34]

Immigrants in Ontario by country of birth

Country of birth	2021[35][34]		2016[36]		2011[37][38]		2006[39][40]		2001[41][42]
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
India	495,750	11.8%	360,545	9.4%	310,410	8.6%	258,530	7.6%	174,560	5.8%
China	355,955	8.5%	317,220	8.2%	267,780	7.4%	229,950	6.8%	164,885	5.4%
Philippines	268,575	6.4%	231,760	6%	204,035	5.6%	151,375	4.5%	119,215	3.9%
United Kingdom	239,485	5.7%	264,120	6.9%	291,935	8.1%	321,645	9.5%	342,900	11.3%
Pakistan	165,530	3.9%	142,265	3.7%	114,595	3.2%	100,940	3%	60,385	2%
Italy	135,640	3.2%	157,815	4.1%	170,710	4.7%	198,315	5.8%	210,540	6.9%
Jamaica	122,770	2.9%	119,840	3.1%	111,475	3.1%	109,360	3.2%	105,410	3.5%
Sri Lanka	112,730	2.7%	109,855	2.9%	110,800	3.1%	89,610	2.6%	72,990	2.4%
United States	111,390	2.6%	109,005	2.8%	115,045	3.2%	106,405	3.1%	98,190	3.2%
Hong Kong	108,480	2.6%	108,035	2.8%	105,855	2.9%	111,630	3.3%	119,615	3.9%
Total immigrants	4,206,585	30%	3,852,145	29.1%	3,611,365	28.5%	3,398,725	28.3%	3,030,075	26.8%
Total responses	14,031,750	98.6%	13,242,160	98.5%	12,651,795	98.4%	12,028,895	98.9%	11,285,545	98.9%
Total population	14,223,942	100%	13,448,494	100%	12,851,821	100%	12,160,282	100%	11,410,046	100%

Recent immigration

The 2021 Canadian census counted a total of 584,680 people who immigrated to Ontario between 2016 and 2021.^[34]

Recent immigrants to Ontario by country of birth (2016 to 2021)[34]
Country of birth	Population	% recent immigrants
India	139,655	23.9%
China	54,645	9.3%
Philippines	45,235	7.7%
Syria	30,180	5.2%
Pakistan	23,970	4.1%
United States	17,940	3.1%
Nigeria	16,575	2.8%
Iran	13,215	2.3%
Iraq	12,940	2.2%
Jamaica	9,975	1.7%
Total	584,680	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

Ontario's interprovincial migration rate have shifted over the years. It was negative in the 1970s, positive in the 1980s, but then negative again in the 1990s. It went back to the positive in around the time of the turn of the millennium for a few years, but has been in the negatives constantly from 2003 to 2015, and has been in the positives since then. Over the period from 1971 to 2015, Ontario was the province which experience the second lowest levels of interprovincial in-migration and out-migration, second only to Quebec.^[43]

Interprovincial migration in Ontario

	In-migrants	Out-migrants	Net migration
2008–09	57,458	73,059	−15,601
2009–10	59,741	64,403	−4,662
2010–11	58,317	62,324	−4,007
2011–12	60,459	71,070	−10,611
2012–13	54,678	68,579	−13,901
2013–14	57,415	71,979	−14,564
2014–15	62,874	71,569	−8,695
2015–16	71,790	62,713	9,077
2016–17	71,717	58,335	13,382
2017–18	69,918	59,974	9,944
2018–19	77,281	65,550	11,731
2019–20	97,031	89,210	7,821

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
• List of municipalities in Ontario
• List of census divisions of Ontario
• 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 "Chinese", "Korean", and "Japanese" under visible minority section on census.
3. Statistic includes total responses of "West Asian" and "Arab" under visible minority section on census.
4. Statistic includes total responses of "Filipino" and "Southeast Asian" 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.

1. 2021 census data differentiates between Persian registers (Dari, Farsi (Iranian Persian), and other. Number also includes Persian (Farsi) not otherwise specified
2. 2021 census data differentiates between Persian registers (Dari, Farsi (Iranian Persian), and other. Number also includes Persian (Farsi) not otherwise specified
3. Included all Persian registers, as 2016 census data did not differentiate between either.
4. Included all Persian registers, as 2016 census data did not differentiate between either.
5. The following is the total figure from all respondents, including single, and multi-answered respondents.

1. Statistic includes all persons that did not make up part of a visible minority or an Indigenous identity.