Highlights

A total of 147,391 couples tied the knot in 2003, only 653 more than in 2002 and just 773 more than in 2001, according to vital statistics data from the provinces and the territories, which for the first time include limited information on same-sex marriages. 

Data are available only for British Columbia because Ontario’s marriage registration forms do not contain information allowing the type of marriage (opposite-sex, male and female same-sex marriages) to be identified.

Of the total of 21,981 marriages that occurred in British Columbia in 2003, 774, or 3.5%, were between people of the same sex.

More than half (55.9%) of the people who entered into a same-sex marriage in British Columbia were not residents of Canada.

The number of marriages increased in only the Yukon and two provinces – Ontario and British Columbia. 

The crude marriage rate was highest in Prince Edward Island in 2003, where it was 6.0 marriages for every 1,000 population.

The lowest rates in the country were in Quebec with 2.8 marriages for every 1,000 population, and Nunavut (2.3 per 1,000).