Statistics Canada
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Chart 1: Total fertility rate, Canada and the United States, 1940-2000
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What the chart shows
In 1976, for the first time since the beginning of the 20th Century, United States demographic growth (immigration + natural growth) surpassed that of Canada.
Discussion points
- One third of the difference in demographic growth is due to greater teen fertility rates in the United States as compared to Canada.
- Canadians may be using more effective means of contraception than their American counterparts. As well, Canadians may have easier access to medical services.
- Americans are twice as likely to be involved in religious activities as Canadians.
- The rates of youth unemployment in the 1980s and 1990s were higher in Canada than the United States.
- Of all the industrialized countries, the United States has some of the strongest fiscal measures directed to families.
Additional Statistics Canada resources
Births, The Daily, June 31, 2006
Study: Fertility among visible minority women, The Daily, June 30, 2006
Study: Who's religious?, The Daily, May 2, 2006
Canada's demographic situation: Fertility of immigrant women, The Daily, December 22, 2003
Census of Population: Income of individuals, families and households; religion, The Daily, May 13, 2003
A profile of the Canadian population: where we live, Highlights from the 2001 Census
Trends in Canadian and American fertility - The Daily, July 3, 2002
