Statistics Canada
www.statcan.gc.ca
Common menu bar links
Table 5
Mean and median birth weight, by geography
Archived Content
Information identified as archived is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please "contact us" to request a format other than those available.
| Place of residence of mother | Birth weight | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Both sexes | Males | Females | ||||
| Mean 1 | Median 2 | Mean 1 | Median 2 | Mean 1 | Median 2 | |
| grams | ||||||
| Canada | 3,372 | 3,400 | 3,429 | 3,460 | 3,313 | 3,340 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 3,459 | 3,490 | 3,522 | 3,555 | 3,393 | 3,410 |
| Prince Edward Island | 3,450 | 3,487 | 3,508 | 3,550 | 3,396 | 3,430 |
| Nova Scotia | 3,423 | 3,459 | 3,482 | 3,515 | 3,361 | 3,402 |
| New Brunswick | 3,426 | 3,445 | 3,475 | 3,500 | 3,374 | 3,395 |
| Quebec | 3,355 | 3,380 | 3,414 | 3,450 | 3,293 | 3,315 |
| Ontario | 3,360 | 3,390 | 3,416 | 3,450 | 3,302 | 3,330 |
| Manitoba | 3,444 | 3,458 | 3,501 | 3,515 | 3,384 | 3,402 |
| Saskatchewan | 3,441 | 3,470 | 3,501 | 3,530 | 3,378 | 3,405 |
| Alberta | 3,348 | 3,382 | 3,405 | 3,446 | 3,289 | 3,320 |
| British Columbia | 3,391 | 3,419 | 3,444 | 3,475 | 3,334 | 3,360 |
| Yukon | 3,428 | 3,470 | 3,486 | 3,539 | 3,365 | 3,410 |
| Northwest Territories | 3,556 | 3,544 | 3,604 | 3,572 | 3,506 | 3,515 |
| Nunavut | 3,371 | 3,400 | 3,449 | 3,460 | 3,294 | 3,344 |
| Unknown | 2,799 | 2,799 | 0 | 0 | 2,799 | 2,799 |
Mean birth weight is calculated for Canada,
a province or a territory by summing the first weight of each newborn (obtained
immediately after birth) and then dividing the sum by the total number of
live births in that jurisdiction.
Median birth weight refers to the middle value
birth weight when newborns' birth weight is ranked from lightest to heaviest.
In the case of an even number of observations, the median is the arithmetic
average of the two middle values.
Source(s):
Statistics Canada, Canadian Vital Statistics, Birth Database (CANSIM
table 102-4510).
