Publications

    Spotlight on Canadians: Results from the General Social Survey

    Canadians' connections with family and friends

    Highlights

    Warning View the most recent version.

    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.

    Archived

    This page has been archived on the Web.

    [Full article in HTML][Full article in PDF]

    • According to the 2013 GSS, 16 million Canadians or over half (55%) of people aged 15 years and older reported that they felt close to at least five family members, including those living within and outside their home.
    • People had about as many close friends as close relatives. Half of all Canadians (51%) said they had five or more close friends, with very few (6%) saying they had none. In addition, 47% of Canadians reported having at least 20 “other” friends.
    • Younger Canadians were more likely to report a larger social network. Canadians under 25 had a median number of 24 ‘other’ friends, 38% higher than those aged 45 to 54, and more than twice as high as seniors aged 65 years and older.
    • Canadians were just as likely to stay in regular contact with family living outside their home, as they were with friends. Eight in ten Canadians (82%) had communicated with their family on a weekly basis in the last month, similar to the proportion (83%) regularly contacting their friends.
    • People were more likely to regularly connect with family by phone, while they more often saw, sent text messages or emailed their friends.
    • The large majority of Canadians (82%) were satisfied with how often they connected with family and friends.
    • Canadians said that the majority of their friends contacted in the last month had the same mother tongue, were the same age, gender and education level. Few (9%) indicated that most of their friends were visibly different from them.
    • Levels of life satisfaction were somewhat higher among people with more connections with family, close friends and ‘other’ friends.
    Date modified: