Structure and Change in Canada's Rural Demography: An Update to 2006

By Ray D. Bollman and Heather A. Clemenson, Statistics Canada

Highlights

• For Canada as a whole, the rural population is growing.

• Most, but not all, of the growth is in areas adjacent to metro areas.

• Growth of the rural population is less than the growth in urban areas. Thus the rural share of Canada’s total population continues to decline.

• The rural population is not growing in all provinces. Each province and territory has reported rural population growth and rural population decline in recent decades.

• Depending on how rural is defined, in 2006, 19% to 30% of Canadians were living in a rural area.