Definitions

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Age at marriage. The age of the groom, bride or spouse at their last birthday preceding marriage.

Bride. A woman who has married a man, in an opposite–sex marriage.

Groom. A man who has married a woman, in an opposite–sex marriage.

Marital status.  Refers to the legal conjugal status of the groom, bride or spouse at the time of their marriage. A single person is one who has never been married, or a person whose marriage has been annulled and who has not remarried. A person whose husband, wife or spouse has died and who has not remarried is widowed. A divorced person is one who has obtained a legal divorce and has not remarried. A separated person is legally married but is not living with his or her husband, wife or spouse because the couple no longer wants to live together. A married person is one who is legally married and not separated. Persons in common–law relationships are categorized by their legal marital status. Only those persons whose legal marital status is single, widowed or divorced can marry.

Marriage. Prior to 2003, marriage was defined as the legal conjugal union of two persons of the opposite sex. Following provincial court rulings in 2003, vital statistics registries in Ontario and British Columbia started registering marriages of same–sex couples.  In 2004, subsequent rulings by courts in five provinces (Quebec, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland and Labrador) and one territory (Yukon) expanded the number of jurisdictions registering same–sex marriages. A court ruling in New Brunswick allowed same–sex marriages, a month before federal legislation legalized same–sex marriages across Canada, on July 20th, 2005. Starting with the year 2003, Statistics Canada publishes data on three types of marriages: opposite–sex marriage, male same–sex marriage and female same–sex marriage.  Other types of unions such as common–law relationships, civil unions, and partnerships registered with partnerships registries are excluded.

• Opposite–sex marriage: The legal conjugal union of two persons of the opposite sex. All marriages registered in Canada prior to 2003 were opposite–sex marriages.
  
  
• Same–sex marriage: The legal conjugal union of two persons of the same sex, for example two men or two women. There were no same–sex marriages registered in Canada prior to 2003.

Marriage rates. Marriage statistics are compiled by place of occurrence, instead of by place of residence. In the calculation of marriage rates, the population covered in the numerator does not exactly correspond to the one covered in the denominator. This is explained by the fact that those rates have in the numerator the number of persons marrying, both residents and non–residents, in the place of occurrence, and in the denominator the population that resides in the place of occurrence.  This discrepancy between the population covered in the numerator and the one covered in the denominator has two distinct effects on the rates.  Marriage rates in Canada could be overestimated because the numerator includes non–residents such as foreign tourists marrying in Canada.  Conversely, marriage rates in Canada could be underestimated when Canadians residents marry in other countries.

• Age–specific marriage rates (AMR): The number of marriages of men or women per 1,000 unmarried men or women (single, widowed and divorced, based on legal marital status) in a specific age group. Among persons under 20 years of age, the rate is per 1,000 unmarried persons aged 15 to19. Among persons 75 years of age and older, the rate is per 1,000 unmarried persons aged 75 to 79. In cases where the age of the bride, groom or spouse was unknown, the data were not distributed across known age categories.
  
  
• Age–specific first marriage rates (AFMR): The number of marriages of never–married men or women per 1,000 males or females in a specific age group. These age groups only include persons under 50 years old. Among never–married persons under 20 years of age, the rate is per 1,000 persons age 15 to 19. In cases where the age of the bride, groom or spouse was unknown, the data were not distributed across known age categories.
  
  
• Crude marriage rates: The number of marriages per 1,000 population.
  
  
• Total first–marriage rates (TFMR): The sum of age–specific first marriage rates (AFMR). The TFMR for 2004 = [ (AFMR2004 of never–married 15 to 19–year–olds + AFMR2004 of never–married 20 to 24 year–olds + … + AFMR2004 of never–married 45 to 49 year–olds) ] multiplied by 5 (for example the number of years in each age group). This measure can be interpreted as the proportion of men (or women) who are expected to first marry before their 50th birthday (based on the marriage rates calculated for a particular year).

Mean age at marriage. The mean (average) age at marriage, for grooms, brides or spouses in a province or territory, by marital status was calculated by summing the grooms’, brides’ or spouses’ ages at their last birthday, and then dividing the sum by the total number of marriages in that jurisdiction with that marital status type. Records with unknown ages are excluded. To estimate mid–year mean age, add 0.5 to mean age.

Median age at marriage. The median is the middle value in a set of ordered numbers (for example divorced brides’ ages ranked from youngest to oldest). In the case of an even number of observations, the median is the average of the two middle values. Records with unknown ages are excluded.

Population. Persons whose usual place of residence is somewhere in Canada, including Canadian government employees stationed abroad and their families, members of the Canadian Forces stationed abroad and their families, crews of Canadian merchant vessels, and non-permanent residents of Canada.

Mid–year (July 1) population estimates are used to calculate the rates in vital statistics publications (see table footnotes). Population estimates are frequently revised by Statistics Canada’s Demography Division.

Provinces and territories. The geographic distribution of marriages in the tables of this publication is based on place of occurrence, that is, the province or territory where the marriage took place.

Nunavut came into being officially as a Territory of Canada on April 1, 1999. The name Northwest Territories applies to a Territory with different geographic boundaries before and after April 1, 1999.

Religion. The religious denomination of the groom, bride or spouse reported on the marriage certificate.

Spouse. A man who has married another man, or a woman who has married another woman, in a same–sex marriage.

Type of officiant. Refers to the designation of the individuals authorized to perform marriages, that is, clergy or non–clergy. The designation of non–clergy officiants varies among the provinces and territories and includes the designations judge, justice of the peace, marriage commissioner and clerk of the court.