2021 Census of Population: Age, Sex at Birth and Gender, Type of Dwelling Video - Video transcript
(The Statistics Canada wordmark, the Canada wordmark, and the title: "2021 Census of Population: Age, Sex at Birth and Gender, Type of Dwelling" are on screen)
(Patricia Griffith is on screen)
Good afternoon everybody and thank you for joining me today on today's census webinar.
(Slide on screen with the 2021 Census release schedule)
What we're seeing on the first slide is just the 2021 census release schedule, and as you can see, we have seven major themed releases, two of which have already taken place.
So on February the ninth, we disseminated population and dwelling counts, and on April 27, we disseminated age, sex at birth and gender and type of dwelling, and that will be the focus of today's webinar.
(A slide showing the overview of what will be discussed is shown)
So in terms of today's presentation, we'll be looking at the variable of age, sex at birth and gender. We'll also look at type of dwelling. We'll take a brief look at geography. I won't go into too much detail about it, but we'll discuss it in terms of the levels of geography which statistics Canada disseminates data for, and then we'll also take a look at the website in terms of where we can find information from today's release.
(A slide on the Age and Sex at Birth and Gender concepts that will be discussed is shown)
So with respect to age, sex at birth and gender, some concepts and definitions to keep in mind. We're going to have a look at the target population. We will look at the variables of age and age groups as well as some key age indicators. We'll look at sex at birth, and then we'll take a look at the gender variable and we'll discuss the concept of a derived variable.
(Slides outlining the 2021 Census target population are shown)
So with respect to the target population, who is included in the 2021 census? Included are Canadian citizens, landed immigrants and non-permanent residents. Excuse me. Also included are Canadian citizens and landed immigrants that live outside of the country.
So for example, government employees that work outside of Canada, embassy staff that are posted to other countries, members-- members of the Canadian Armed Forces who are stationed outside of Canada, and also Canadian crew members of merchant vessels and their families in Canada on census day.
(A slide continuing on the 2021 Census target population is shown)
Also included in the census are non-permanent residents in Canada, so that would be refugee claimants and their family members living in Canada. In addition to any permit holders, so that would be work or study permit holders, and members of their families living in Canada with them. Pardon me. Excluded from the census are foreign residents, so that would be government representatives of other countries and their family members in Canada on census day. Members of Armed Forces of another country who are stationed in Canada, and also residents of another country who are visiting Canada temporarily on census day.
(A slide outlining age and age groups concept is shown)
So when we're looking at the concept, at the variable of age and age groups, so the age refers to the person's age at the last birthday before their reference date, which would be May 11, 2021. The question on the census questionnaire is question number 4, and it asks, "What are the person's date of birth and age?" And the note that we put along with that is, "If the exact date of birth is not known, enter the best estimate. And for children that are less than-- that are one-year-old, enter-- enter 0 for age."So the importance of this age group variableis that we can look at it in-- in many different terms.
So if we wanted to look at five year age groups, for example, so 0 to 4, 5 to 9, 10 to 14, we could use this variable to do that. Also, if we wanted to look at broader age groups, so let's say children 0 to 14, maybe the working age population, 15 to 64, and then maybe other open age groups such as, like, seniors, 65 and plus, or centenarians, 100 and plus. Using this variable would allow us to do that.
(A slide outlining key age indicators is shown)
Some key indicators for age. On May 11, 2021 for example, the number of persons aged 65 years and over in Canada was 7,021,430. The population change between 2016 and 2021 for elders living in Canada rose by 2.1%. And the proportion of age groups in 2021 between 0 to 14 represented 16.3% of the total Canadian population. Another interesting feature is the mean age.
(A slide continuing on key age indicators is shown)
So when we talk about the mean age, we're looking at the average age of all of its members. And for Canada, it was 41.9 years of age. Excuse me. And the median age for Canada, such that half of the population is exactly older than x and half of the population is younger than x. And that came in at 41.6 years of age.
(A slide showing a map of Canada indicating the population aged 65 and older is shown)
What we're looking at here is a map of Canada provinces and territories, and essentially it's showing us that the populations of the Atlantic provinces are aging quickly.
So what we see here are-- you'll see the proportion of the population aged 65 years and older, which is in a white box, and beneath that will be the percentage point change from 2016 and 2020-21, which is in a little yellow box. And you'll notice that for Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Quebec, that those percentage change are coming in higher than the Canada average. Just indicating again that the Atlantic provinces are tending to age at a quicker rate than Canada as a whole.
(A slide showing the age pyramid of the Canadian population is shown)
Another chart that we're seeing here is an age pyramid, and the title of this age pyramid is "7 million seniors living in the country, representing close to one in five Canadians." So what you'll see here is a dark purple line, which represents the 2021 age pyramid. And within that you'll see a green shaded area, which represents the 1971 age pyramid. You'll see females to the right of the chart and males to the left of the chart. Noticing that the green age pyramid for 1970-71 is after the baby boom, and it's interesting to see that on the 2021 pyramid, that these Baby Boomers still represent the largest generation nationally. And so now these Baby Boomers are actually between the age of 56 and 75 years of age.
(A slide showing a chart comparing people in retirement age with those about to enter the labour force is shown)
What we're looking at here is just a bar graph, which, the title is "More people close to retirement than people about to enter the labour force." So what you're going to notice here is a double arrow in between the two lines, which shows a record gap in 2021 between the population 15 to 24 years of age and the population 55 to 64 years of age.
So as I mentioned earlier, more than one in five persons, so that's about 21.8% of the population, are close to retirement age, and this is an all time high in the history of the Canadian Census.
So some of the challenges that we may expect to face because of this, because of an older workforce, will be knowledge transfer, retaining an experienced workforce, and of course workforce renewal. Projections are also indicating that the gap will continue to widen over the next three decades.
(A slide outlining sex at birth concept is shown)
So if we move on to the sex at birth variable, so sex at birth refers to sex assigned at birth-- a sex assigned at birth, which is typically assigned based on a person's reproductive system or other physical characteristics.
So information to sex pertaining at birth is collected according to two categories, where we gave respondents the option to answer male or female.
So this was-- this was question number two on the census questionnaire, where we asked what was this person's sex at birth. The note that accompanied that was "Sex refers to sex assigned at birth," with the options of male or female.
So the important about-- the-- the importance of collecting this information on sex at birth is needed to measure certain health and demographic indicators, and one of those most important being life expectancy.
(A slide outlining new gender variable is shown)
So for the first time, Statistics Canada is disseminating information on gender. During the 2016 census, and when respondents were participating in other surveys, some Canadians expressed a dissatisfaction with the question on sex, which gave Canadians only two responses, which were the option of choosing male or female.
So individuals did express that they did not see themselves in either of these two responses.
So following extensive consultation and countrywide engagement with the Canadian population, Statistics Canada is pleased to reflect these societal changes.
(A slide outlining the road to the 2021 Census is shown)
So to better reflect how Canadians are able to describe themselves, and also to address data gaps in information about Canada's transgender and non-binary population, while at the same time maintaining the high standards for data quality and historical comparability, Statistics Canada has developed a revised sex at birth variable and a new gender variable, as well as classifications that are associated with each. And as a result of this, new standards for gender and sex variables were released in April of 2018. Prior to the 2021 census, Statistics Canada also conducted a census test in 2019 amongst approximately 135,000 households in Canada to determine whether these new or revised questions that were under consideration could be easily understood and correctly answered by respondents. Furthermore, in June 2017, Bill C-16 was passed in Parliament, adding gender expression and identity as protected grounds under the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code. In 2018, the federal budget also allocated funds to create the Centre for Gender Diversity and Inclusion statistics, emphasizing the need for data on the nonbinary and transgender population.
(A slide outlining gender variable definition is shown)
So if we look at the variable of gender, what is the definition? So gender refers to an individual's personal and social identity as a man, woman, or non-binary person, which is a person who is not exclusively a man or a woman. Included in gender would be the following concepts, gender identity and gender expression. Gender identity refers to the gender that a person feels internally and individually, and gender expression refers to the way a person presents their gender, regardless of their gender identity, through body language-- through body language, aesthetic choices, or accessories.
So this is actually question three on the census questionnaire. The question reads, "What is the person's gender?" And the note that goes along with it is, "Refers to current gender, which may be different from sex assigned at birth, and may be different from what is indicated on legal documents." So the respondent may choose male, female, or they may specify other.
(A slide continuing on gender variable definition is shown)
Gender is also different from sex assigned at birth, and it can be different from what is indicated on a person's legal document.
So for example, birth certificates, driver's licences or passport. The person's gender may also change over time, and some people may not identify with a specific gender. Beginning in 2021, the gender variable is used by default in most census standard data tables and analysis in accordance with the Treasury Board of Canada secretariat's policy direction to modernize the government of Canada's sex and gender information practises.
(A slide outlining derived variables of sex at birth and gender is shown)
So when we're looking at derived variables, so demographic-- demographic information regarding cisgender persons, which would be persons whose reported gender corresponds to their sex at birth, and transgender persons, whose reported gender does not correspond to their sex at birth, can be derived by coupling the sex at birth and gender variables. At higher levels of geography that do allow for data disaggregation while maintaining confidentiality, certain information has been really-- released using a five category classification.
So that includes cisgender men, cisgender women, transgender men, transgender women, and non-binary persons.
(A slide continuing on derived variables of sex at birth and gender is shown)
Also, as a means of maintaining balance between disseminating as much gender-based data as possible and also preserving confidentiality, some information from the 2021 census has been released at higher levels of geography using a three tier category gender variable with the following categories. Men, which includes cisgender and transgender men, women, which includes cisgender and transgender women, and non-binary persons.
(A slide with the overview of gender diagram is shown)
So just to put this into perspective, what you're looking at now is just an overview of gender in-- in a chart form.
So the ovals display the different categories used to describe the gender variables with two or three categories, as well as the gender diverse-- gender diversity status variable. The categories of men+ and women+ are shown in the diagram by the two largest oval shapes and are connected in the middle by non-binary persons. The men category is a smaller oval which-- which is found within the men+ category and includes transgender men and cisgender men. And similarly, the women category is a smaller oval shape found within the women+ category and includes transgender women and cisgender women.
(A slide showing a chart of transgender and non-binary generation gap is shown)
re born between 1981 and 1996
What we're looking at here is just a bar chart that shows the transgender and non-binary generation gap, and what you'll notice here is that most respondents born between-- for Generation Z, born between 1997 and 2006, reported themselves as being transgender and non-binary, followed by millennials, you're born between 1981 and 1996.
(A slide showing proportions of transgender and non-binary people in large urban centres is shown)
Similarly, what we're looking at here is a stacked bar chart, and the title reads, "The largest proportions of transgender and non-binary people in large urban centres are observed on the Canadian east and west coasts". From this graph-- or from this chart, you can see that the largest proportions of transgender and non-binary people are currently located in Victoria, followed by Halifax, Fredericton, and Nanaimo.
(A slide outlining type of dwelling variable is shown)
So we'll move on to the variable of Type of Dwelling and some concepts and definitions that we'll have a look at here will be collective dwelling, private dwellings, structural type of private dwelling, the household size, and then we'll also take a look at some key indicators found within each of those from the 2021 census.
(A slide outlining collective dwelling concept is shown)
So a collective dwelling essentially refers to a dwelling which is of a commercial-- commercial, institutional or communal nature in which a person or group of person resides or could reside. It has to provide care services, and it has to have certain common facilities, such as a kitchen or a bathroom, which are shared by its occupants. It refers to a private dwelling in which a person or a group of persons is permanently residing.
So examples of this would be hospitals, nursing homes, residences for senior citizens, residential care facilities, correctional institutions, et cetera.
(A slide outlining private dwelling concept is shown)
A private dwelling refers to a separate set of living quarters that has a private entrance, either from outside of the building or from a common hall, lobby, vestibule or stairway inside of the building. The entrance to the dwelling has to be one that can be used without passing through the living quarters of some other person or group of persons that reside within the dwelling. Another-- in order-- the dwelling has to meet two conditions that are necessary for year-round occupancy. The first would be a source of heat or power, and the second would be an enclosed space that provides shelter from the elements.
(A slide outlining private dwelling occupied by usual residents concept is shown)
A private dwelling occupied by usual residents refers to a private dwelling in which a person or group of persons is permanently residing.
So also included in here would be private dwellings whose usual residents were temporarily absent on census day, which was May 11, 2021. And unless otherwise stated, all of the data in housing products are released for private dwellings occupied by usual residents.
(A slide with the dwelling universe chart is shown)
What you're looking at here is simply the dwelling universe in a hierarchical structure, just to allow you to put-- put this variable into perspective.
So what we see at the top is a box that contains dwelling, and it's divided into a box to the left, which is collective dwelling, and a box to the right, private dwelling.
So a private dwelling can further be subdivided into a regular dwelling or a marginal dwelling. We've circled occupied by usual residents here just to put this into perspective and to note that census data is actually not published for unoccupied dwellings.
(A slide outlining structural type of private dwelling concept is shown)
So when we're talking about the structural type of private dwelling, so this refers to the structural characteristics and/or the dwelling configuration. This dwelling characteristic variable is collected for all private dwellings in Canada and does not apply to collective dwellings. And just as a bit of an aside, information on the structural type of dwelling is actually-- it's collected by trained employees both during and after the census, and a picture representation of the structural type of dwelling, and its definition, is also supplied to enumerators.
(A slide continuing on structural type of private dwelling concept is shown)
So some classification-- examples of classification of residential structures. That would be a single detached house, a semi-detached house, a row house, it could be an apartment in a building that has five or more stories, an apartment in a building that has fewer than five stories, other single detached houses, mobile homes and other movable dwellings.
(A slide outlining household size concept is shown)
When we're talking about household size, that refers to the number of persons in a private household, and a private household corresponds to the usual residents living in a private dwelling. And also these usual residents would not have a usual place of residence elsewhere in Canada or abroad. And an interesting point here is from the 2021 census, the average private household size was actually 2.4 persons.
(A slide outlining key indicators on type of dwelling variable is shown)
A couple of key indicators on the type of dwelling. The percentage of occupied private dwellings that are single detached houses came in at 52.6%. The number of persons living in collective dwellings was 657,920 persons. The percentage of people aged 85 and over living in collective dwellings was 28%. And the percentage of occupied private dwellings in buildings with five or more stories was 10.7%.
(A slide with levels of geography chart is shown)
So when we talk about geography, so what we're seeing here is just a chart that shows you the various levels of geography for which Statistics Canada disseminates data. As I mentioned earlier, I won't go into too much detail about how these geographies are delineated, et cetera, but just to mention that there is a hierarchy of standard geographic areas for dissemination, which is included in the census dictionary, in the 2021 census dictionary, which is on our website. And if you feel that you want to go and have a look at that just to get more information on these geographies, in addition to how these geographies are related to one another, and in terms of maybe best fit linkages as well, you can certainly do that through the dictionary. Another point that I'd like to mention is that the dissemination area is the lowest level of geography that Statistics Canada disseminates data for. The dissemination block is available, but only for population and dwelling counts.
(Slide on screen starting the tour of the Census of population webpage)
So what I'd like to do now is just take you on a quick tour of the website to show you where the data is located.
(The main Census of population page of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
So right now I'm on the Census of Population screen, the home page.
(The Census of population data products page of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
If we click on "Census Data," and just scroll down the page a little bit here, what you're going to see are the 2021 Census of Population data products. You can filter by product type.
So this is all product types. What I'm going to show you is a profile first, and we're going to look at each of these tabs individually, but if we start with a profile, and we click on census profile--
(The 2021 Census of Population Census profile page of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
So what that'll do, it'll bring us to the census profile page.
So you'll notice if you move your cursor down, you'll see a section called "Browse".
So here you can browse a list of-- you can view data for Canada and you can also view data for specific provinces. You can also view data by popular places.
So for example, one of the popular places listed here is Vancouver, BC or Quebec, for example.
Another feature that you might want to keep in mind is that if you're interested in looking at data from previous censuses, from 2016 on, you also have the ability to do that on this page here. But if we go back up to where it says "Place name, postal code or geographic code," if I put the cursor in there and I simply type in Halifax, and I click on the "Search" button -
(The 2021 Census of Population Census profile page outlining search results for Halifax of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
You're going to notice that a couple of geographies are going to pop up.
So by typing in Halifax, I have access to the census subdivision, the census Metropolitan area, the census division, and also federal electoral districts.
So if I were to choose, under census subdivision, and I click on Halifax,
(The 2021 Census of Population Census profile table for Halifax (Census subdivision) of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
what you'll see here is the census profile table for Halifax,
so for the census subdivision of Halifax. You'll see the gender variables at the top and you'll see the population and dwelling information as you scroll down the page. Now, one of the nice features on this page is that you can add a geography.
So if I clicked on that link--
where you see place name, postal code,
and geographic code, I could enter a different geography
that I might be interested in looking at,
to compare with Halifax, and I would click on
the search button and that geography would appear.
Another interesting feature is that you can click on "Add or remove Data". S let's say, for example, maybe you were only interested in looking at population and dwelling and not the gender variable, you could take that information out of your table. Also, just as a refresher, you'll see to the right of the screen, in a little blue box with an "i" next to it, is a note on gender.
(The 2021 Census of Population Census Profile 'Note on gender' is shown)
If you click on that, you'll get information on the gender variable, just in case you're wanting to refresh your information on what the actual-- what's actually included in this variable.
(The 2021 Census of Population Census profile table for Halifax (Census subdivision) of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
And again, you have access-- you can download this information in a CSD or a tab format. If we go back to data products--
(The Census of population data products page of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
The second tab that I'd like to show you would be the Table tab.
So it's the third tab in, under filter by product type.
So if I click on "Table", and I scroll down a little bit, what you'll see here is that you have access to either data tables or highlight tables.
(The 2021 Census of Population data tables page of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
If I click on Data tables, as you scroll down a little bit you'll see "Select a topic".
So right now the topics that are available,
that are highlighted and underlined,
would be population and dwelling counts,
age, sex at birth at gender and type of dwelling.
And as the release--
as the release progresses and as the data is disseminated, you'll notice that you'll have access to all of this information, eventually, at the end of the dissemination schedule. Just to give you an example, if I clicked on the third topic down, which is type of dwelling--
(The 2021 Census of Population type of dwelling data tables page of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
If I click on that, what you see here is there are right now 10 tables available for you to look at.
So I'm going to scroll down to table number four. And what table number four is showing-- is showing me, it's called the structural type of dwelling and household size for Canada provinces, territories, census division and census subdivisions. I'm going to click on that table--
(The 2021 Census of Population ‘Structural type of dwelling and household size’ data table of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
And you'll see that once I do that, it actually brings me to the data set.
So I have the data here. Keeping in-- in line with a similar-- with a common look and feel, you have the option to add or remove data, which I showed you earlier, and you also have the option of downloading the table, should you wish to. Another interesting feature here is that for geography, right now the default level of geography will always be Canada. But if you click-- click on the dropdown menu, you have access to all of the levels of geography that are mentioned in the table title. And simply by choosing one of those geographies and then clicking on "Apply", you'll notice that the data for the table will get updated here.
(The 2021 Census of Population type of dwelling data tables page of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
So if we go back to the data tables-- [Clearing throat] Excuse me. What I'd like to show you here is-- I'm going to show you another table as well.
[Clearing throat] Excuse me. If I'm clicking on type of dwelling again, I'm going to scroll down to-- [Clearing throat] excuse me-- table number seven. Which is going to show me type of collective dwelling and dwelling occupied by user-- usual residents and population in collective dwellings for Canada, provinces and territories.
(The 2021 Census of Population ‘Type of collective dwelling and collective dwellings occupied by usual residents and population in collective dwellings’ data table of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
If I click on that again, same information, your data table will be-- you'll see that below, you can add or remove data, download options as you wish. And again, you also have a dropdown menu where you can choose the geography that you wish to look at. Click on apply and the data table will be uploaded.
(The Census of population data products page of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
So if we move on to-- pardon me. If you look at-- in the census data tab again, the other tab that I wanted to show you
was data visualization. If we click on Data visualization, what it takes us to is an age pyramid.
(The 2021 Census of Population age pyramids page of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
And what you can see here is-- currently we're seeing an age pyramid for 2021, but another feature that we have here is if we wanted to compare to geography.
So for example, if I wanted to, for ex-- I'm going to type in Saint John here. Excuse me.
So I'm going to type in Saint John and I'm going to choose a census subdivision of Saint John. And similarly for geography number two, if I typed in Calgary, I'm going to choose the census subdivision of Calgary. And what you can see here is that the data is automatically updated in this age pyramid.
So you see the Saint John CSD data, which is in sort of a grayish colour, the age pyramid's in a grayish colour. And you see the-- the age pyramid for Calgary, which is represented by a purple colour. And as you move the bar up and down in this age pyramid, you'll notice that to the right of the screen the data also changes. So just another interesting feature for you to keep in mind.
(The main Census of population page of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
Now, one other thing that I wanted to show you on the census of population page also is the census learning centre.
So if you go back to the census of population main page, you scroll down the page to where you'll see "More from the census," and the second-- the second underlined tab in is called the "Census learning centre".
(The Census learning centre page of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
If we click on the Census learning centre, basically you're brought to a section on our website where there are a series of short videos.
So these have currently been updated for census dwellings and type of dwellings and age for the census population. But if you scroll down, you'll see that there's a number of short videos that you have access here to, and I urge you to go back and take a look at this if you can, simply because it's just a great source of information, not only for users that are new to Statistics Canada data, but also for more seasoned users who might be interested in maybe just refreshing your knowledge on what some of these variables mean.
(The 2021 Census of Population reference materials page of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
Also, with respect to some of the-- the reference information, not too much has been updated with respect to the census of population dictionary for 2021. Just to bring your attention to the guide, so if you're on the main-- the reference page tab and you go down to 2021 census of population reference products and you click on the third tab in, which is "Guide", you'll notice that we have updated this section to include an age, sex at birth and gender reference guide for the 2021 census, in addition to a type of dwelling reference guide for the 2021 census. And again, as our census dissemination schedule progresses, this will be updated to-- to reflect those changes and to also include the new variables.
(A slide about the Data Service Centre is shown)
So just going back, just to conclude the presentation, I'd like to just mention to you about our data service centre.
So we offer users a complete range of services, and we can assist users with simple and free data requests, including technical and any methodological questions. When you visit our website, you'll notice that in the bottom right hand corner on our home page is a chat function. I urge you to use that function if you have any short questions, you just need to be pointed in the right direction. You type a question in and someone from our data service centre in Montreal answers your question immediately, and points you in the right direction. For any more complex-- complex requests that require research or extraction of data or customization of data from any of our different surveys or multiple sources, we can assist you with that by-- we can also produce customized reports, we can do analysis, and we can also do specific maps, user specific maps that you require. In addition to that, we also offer standard and customized workshops for data users of all levels and expertise. And also through various outreach activities such as webinars like this, through different newsletters that we send out, through presentations, information and open house sessions, we're just trying to reach our users and we'd like to assist you in any way possible.
So that concludestoday's presentation.
(The Canada wordmark is on screen)