Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

NUNAVUT
Nunavut has the lowest percentage of families with married couples in the country but the highest percentage of common-law couples and lone-parent families nationally, Statistics Canada data show.

The national agency released data on families and living arrangements from the 2011 census on Sept. 19.

The data show married couples remain the dominant family structure, accounting for two-thirds of all families. But its proportion is shrinking, as the number of common-law couples rose 13.9 per cent, more than four times the 3.1-per-cent increase for married couples.

Lone-parent families increased eight per cent between 2006 and 2011. And for the first time, the number of common-law couple families surpassed the number of lone-parent families.

In Nunavut, married couples accounted for 3,040 or 39 per cent of the territory's 7,780 families, the lowest proportion in Canada and below the national average of 67 per cent.

In contrast, common-law couples accounted for nearly a third of Nunavut's families, the highest in Canada and nearly double the national average of 16.7 per cent.

The percentage of lone-parent families was also highest in the territory, as 2,195 out of the 7,780 or 28.2 per cent of them fell in that category.

The percentage of lone-parent families in Canada is 16.3 per cent.

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.