Tuesday, June 22, 2004

 Spotlight: Mixed unions

Mixed couples on rise

More and more Canadians have formed unions involving partners from different ethnic origins, religions or visible minority groups, according to a new study.

These unions still represent a low proportion of the total in Canada, but they have gained ground over the last decade, according to the report in Statistics Canada’s quarterly publication Canadian Social Trends.

In 2001, an estimated 14.1 million people were living as either a married couple, or as a couple in a common-law union. Of these, some 452,000 individuals were in a couple comprised of one visible minority and one non-visible minority, or members of two different visible minority groups.

This was a 35% increase from 1991, more than three times the increase of 10% for all people living in a couple.

Growing cultural diversity

In 2001, mixed unions represented 3.2% of all people living in couples in Canada, up from 2.6% a decade earlier.

Mixed couples could be increasing for many reasons. A key factor is Canada’s growing cultural diversity. In 2001, there were more members of visible minority groups in Canada than at any time in the past, creating a larger pool of potential mates.

The 4.0 million visible minorities in Canada in 2001 accounted for more than 13% of the population, more than twice the proportion of only 5% in 1981.

Common-law unions

The most common type of mixed marriage or common-law union occurred between a member of a visible minority and someone who was not. There were 394,300 people in such couples in 2001, accounting for 2.8% of all people in couples, up from 2.4% in 1991.

Of these couples, 53% consisted of a woman who was a visible minority and a man who was not, and 47% the reverse.

About 4% of all common-law unions were mixed in 2001, compared with 2.9% of all marriages.

Mixed unions accounted for 7% of all people in couples in Vancouver, 6% in Toronto and 3% in Montreal.  However, among the age group 20 to 29, the proportions doubled to 13% in Vancouver, 11% in Toronto and 6% in Montreal.

You can read the report “Mixed unions” in the Summer 2004 edition of Canadian Social Trends on our website.

For more information, contact Anne Milan (613-951-2756), Housing, Family and Social Statistics Division.

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© 2004, Statistics Canada.