The 2001 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population. Census day was May 15, 2001. On that day, Statistics Canada attempted to count every person in Canada. The total population count of Canada was 30,007,094. This was a 4% increase over 1996 census of 28,846,761. In contrast, the official Statistics Canada population estimate for 2001 was 31,021,300. This is considered a more accurate population number than the actual count.
The previous census was the 1996 census and the following census was in 2006 census.
Canada by the numbers
A summary of information about Canada.
{| class="wikitable"
! Total population || 30,007,094
|-
| Dwellings || 12,548,588
|-
| Men || 14,706,850
|-
| Women || 15,300,245
|-
| Median age || 37.6 years
|-
|Average earnings || $31,757
|}
Census summary
Canada has experienced one of the smallest census-to-census growth rates in its population. From 1996 to 2001, the nation's population increased only 4.0%. The census counted 30,007,094 people on May 15, 2001, compared with 28,846,761 on May 14, 1996.
Only three provinces and one territory had growth rates above the national average. Alberta's population soared 10.3%, Ontario gained 6.1% and British Columbia, 4.9%. Nunavut's population rose 8.1%. The population of Newfoundland and Labrador declined for the second consecutive census period.
Urbanization continued. In 2001, 79.4% of Canadians lived in an urban centre of 10,000 people or more, compared with 78.5% in 1996. Outside the urban centres, the population of rural and small-town areas declined 0.4%.
In 2001, just over 64% of the nation's population, or about 19,297,000 people, lived in the 27 census metropolitan areas (CMAs), up slightly from 63% in 1996. Seven of these 27 CMAs saw their populations grow at a rate of at least double the national average. The strongest rise, by far, occurred in Calgary.
From 1996 to 2001, the nation's population concentrated further in four broad urban regions: the extended Golden Horseshoe in southern Ontario; Montreal and environs; British Columbia's Lower Mainland and southern Vancouver Island; and the Calgary-Edmonton corridor. In 2001, 51% of Canada's population lived in these regions, compared with 49% in 1996.
Population by province/territory
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: right;"
|-
! style="width:40px" style="text-align: center;" | Rank
! style="text-align: center;" | Province or territory
! style="text-align: center;" data-sort-type="number" | Population as of<br />2001 census
! style="text-align: center;" data-sort-type="number" | Population as of<br />1996 census
! style="text-align: center;" data-sort-type="number" | Change
! style="text-align: center;" data-sort-type="number" | Percent<br />change
|-
| 1
| style="text-align: left;" |Ontario
| 11,410,046
| 10,753,573
| 656,473
| 6.1
|-
| 2
| style="text-align: left;" |Quebec
| 7,237,479
| 7,138,795
| 98,684
| 1.4
|-
| 3
| style="text-align: left;" |British Columbia
| 3,907,738
| 3,724,500
| 183,238
| 4.9
|-
| 4
| style="text-align: left;" |Alberta
| 2,974,807
| 2,696,826
| 277,981
| 10.3
|-
| 5
| style="text-align: left;" |Manitoba
| 1,119,583
| 1,113,898
| 5,685
| 0.5
|-
| 6
| style="text-align: left;" |Saskatchewan
| 978,933
| 990,237
| -2,318
| -1.1
|-
| 7
| style="text-align: left;" |Nova Scotia
| 908,007
| 909,282
| -1,275
| -0.1
|-
| 8
| style="text-align: left;" |New Brunswick
| 729,498
| 738,133
| -8,635
| -1.2
|-
| 9
| style="text-align: left;" |Newfoundland and Labrador
| 512,930
| 551,792
| -38,862
| -7.0
|-
| 10
| style="text-align: left;" |Prince Edward Island
| 135,294
| 134,557
| 737
| 0.5
|-
| 11
| style="text-align: left;" |Northwest Territories
| 37,360
| 39,672
| -2,312
| -5.8
|-
| 12
| style="text-align: left;" |Yukon
| 28,674
| 30,766
| -2,092
| -6.8
|-
| 13
| style="text-align: left;" |Nunavut
| 26,745
| 24,730
| 2,015
| 8.1
|-
!
! style="text-align: left;" |Canada
! 30,007,094
! 28,846,761
! 1,160,333
! 4.0
|}
Demographics
Mother tongue
Population by mother tongue of Canada's official languages:
{| class="wikitable"
! Mother tongue || Population
|-
|English || 17,572,170
|-
|French || 6,741,955
|-
|Bilingual || 122,660
|-
|Other || 5,202,240
|}
Aboriginal peoples
Population of Aboriginal peoples in Canada:
{| class="wikitable"
|Aboriginal Population || 976,305
|-
|North American Indian || 608,850
|-
| Métis || 292,305
|-
|Inuit || 45,070
|}
Ethnic origin
Population by ethnic origin. Only those origins with more than 250,000 respondents are included here. This is based entirely on self reporting.
{| class="wikitable"
!Ethnic origins || Total responses || Single responses || Multiple responses 2
|-
|Total population || 29,639,035 || 18,307,540 ||11,331,490
|-
|Canadian ||11,682,680 ||6,748,135 ||4,934,550
|-
|English ||5,978,875 ||1,479,520 ||4,499,355
|-
|French ||4,668,410 ||1,060,755 ||3,607,655
|-
|Scottish ||4,157,210 ||607,235 ||3,549,975
|-
|Irish ||3,822,660 ||496,865 ||3,325,800
|-
|German ||2,742,765 ||705,595 ||2,037,170
|-
|Italian ||1,270,370 ||726,275 ||544,090
|-
|Chinese ||1,094,700 ||936,210 ||158,490
|-
|Ukrainian ||1,071,060 ||326,200 ||744,860
|-
|North American Indian ||1,000,890 ||455,805 ||545,085
|-
|Dutch (Netherlands) ||923,310 ||316,220 ||607,090
|-
|Polish ||817,085 ||260,415 ||556,670
|-
|African ||731,044 ||Unknown ||Unknown
|-
|East Indian ||713,330 ||581,665 ||131,665
|-
|Norwegian ||363,760 ||47,230 ||316,530
|-
|Portuguese ||357,690 ||252,835 ||104,855
|-
|Welsh ||350,365 ||28,445 ||321,925
|-
|Jewish ||348,605 ||186,475 ||162,130
|-
|Russian ||337,960 || 70,890 || 267,070
|-
|Filipino ||327,545 ||266,140 ||61,410
|-
|Métis || 307,845 ||72,210 ||235,635
|-
|Swedish ||282,760 ||30,440 ||252,320
|-
|Hungarian (Magyar) ||267,255 ||91,795 ||175,460
|-
|American (USA) ||250,010 ||25,200 ||224,805
|}
Religion
Population by religion. Only those religions with more than 250,000 respondents are included here. The census question was partly aided—that is, the questionnaire form gave examples of some of the denominations but not others. The actual question asked is noted below.
{| class="wikitable"
!Religion || Total responses || % of Population
|-
|Roman Catholic || 12,793,125 || 43.2
|-
|No religion || 4,796,325 || 16.2
|-
|United Church || 2,839,125 || 9.6
|-
|Anglican || 2,035,500 || 6.9
|-
|Christian n.i.e. || 780,450 || 2.6
|-
|Baptist || 729,470 || 2.5
|-
|Lutheran || 606,590 || 2.0
|-
|Muslim || 579,640 || 2.0
|-
|Protestant n.i.e.