1961 Canadian census

The 1961 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population. Census day was June 16, 1961. On that day, Statistics Canada attempted to count every person in Canada. The total population count of Canada was 18,238,247. This was a 13.4% increase over the 1956 census of 16,080,791.

The previous census was the 1956 census and the following census was the 1966 census. This was the first census since 1901 in which all then-admitted provinces recorded a population of at least 100,000, and the last in which Saskatchewan had a larger population than neighbouring Manitoba.

Canada by the numbers A summary of information about Canada.

Total population 18,238,247 Men 9,218,893 Women 9,019,354

Population by province Rank Province or territory Population as of1961 census Population as of1956 census Change Percentchange 1Ontario 6,236,092 5,404,933 831,159 15.4 2Quebec 5,259,211 4,628,378 630,833 13.6 3British Columbia 1,629,082 1,398,464 230,618 16.5 4Alberta 1,331,944 1,123,116 208,828 18.6 5Saskatchewan 925,181 880,665 44,516 5.1 6Manitoba 921,686 850,040 71,646 8.4 7Nova Scotia 737,007 694,717 42,290 6.1 8New Brunswick 597,936 554,616 43,320 7.8 9Newfoundland and Labrador 457,853 415,074 42,779 10.3 10Prince Edward Island 104,629 99,285 5,344 5.4 11Northwest Territories 22,998 19,313 3,685 19.1 12Yukon 14,628 12,190 2,438 20.0 Canada 18,238,247 16,080,791 2,157,416 13.4

A different definition for the Northwest Territories disregards areas not included within the Mackenzie River Electoral District. If such areas were excluded, the Northwest Territories had 14,895 people in 1961 and 12,492 people in 1956. Under this definition, the Northwest Territories saw an increase of 2,403 people, or 19.2%.

Ethnic group Major ethnic groups in Canada by province/territory (1961 census)Ethnic groupCanada French 5,540,346 647,941 4,241,354 66,970 83,319 59,824 83,936 87,883 232,127 17,171 17,418 1,412 991 English 4,195,175 1,939,867 322,410 518,010 282,964 170,296 184,607 241,020 158,590 342,070 30,191 2,039 3,111 Scottish 1,902,302 835,590 109,937 255,627 165,942 102,685 119,299 182,823 84,082 9,902 32,940 1,525 1,950 Irish 1,753,351 873,647 129,326 165,631 134,102 92,133 84,726 93,998 82,485 74,791 19,786 1,056 1,670 German–Austrian 1,156,134 435,205 46,880 137,010 199,218 177,192 102,256 46,038 7,612 1,937 706 805 1,275 Ukrainian 473,337 127,911 16,588 35,640 105,923 78,851 105,372 1,763 379 141 66 358 345 Italian 450,351 273,864 108,552 38,399 15,025 2,413 6,476 3,719 1,210 246 103 144 200 Scandinavian–Nordic 445,970 103,559 13,572 106,829 99,541 69,444 38,816 5,985 5,066 1,237 443 633 845 Dutch 429,679 191,017 10,442 60,176 55,530 29,325 47,780 25,251 7,882 462 1,288 177 349 Polish 323,517 149,524 30,790 24,870 40,539 28,951 44,371 3,106 633 243 82 167 241 Indigenous 220,121 48,074 21,343 38,814 28,554 30,630 29,427 3,271 2,921 1,411 236 13,233 2,207 Jewish 173,344 65,280 74,677 5,113 4,353 2,287 18,898 1,672 859 180 15 10 0 Welsh 143,942 61,678 5,285 27,159 18,522 8,261 7,594 7,577 4,776 2,136 584 157 213 Hungarian 126,220 59,427 15,561 12,833 15,293 16,059 5,443 827 412 73 15 61 216 Russian 119,168 28,327 13,694 27,448 17,952 22,481 7,938 804 305 67 14 37 101 Czechoslovak 73,061 33,332 7,381 8,482 12,448 5,854 4,525 711 138 40 27 57 66 Yugoslav 68,587 43,564 5,577 8,561 5,329 2,420 2,448 380 114 11 4 58 121 Baltic 64,373 42,105 9,310 4,667 3,903 981 2,019 727 332 210 24 39 56 Belgian 61,382 22,142 12,092 4,948 5,152 5,464 9,698 1,267 447 39 31 50 52 Chinese 58,197 15,155 4,749 24,227 6,937 3,660 1,936 637 274 445 43 34 100 Greek 56,475 29,062 19,390 3,124 1,774 809 1,199 827 177 43 6 52 12 European, 51,446 29,984 10,000 5,187 2,003 879 1,332 1,332 424 195 30 36 44 Romanian 43,805 15,787 7,101 4,455 6,806 7,128 1,968 322 140 30 5 24 39 African/Black 32,127 11,062 4,287 1,012 1,307 285 920 11,900 1,273 19 48 7 7 Japanese 29,157 11,870 1,459 10,424 3,721 280 1,296 28 18 3 0 26 32 Syrian–Lebanese 19,374 7,137 5,302 530 1,327 678 590 2,153 984 417 240 4 12 Asian, 8,251 3,960 2,808 592 310 192 157 115 45 51 11 3 7 Indian (South Asian) 6,774 1,155 483 4,526 208 115 198 46 22 17 1 2 1 British Isles, 1,899 754 99 454 225 107 219 30 7 0 0 2 2 Other & Not Stated 210,382 128,112 8,762 27,364 13,717 5,497 6,242 10,795 4,202 4,266 272 790 363 Total population 18,238,247 6,236,092 5,259,211 1,629,082 1,331,944 925,181 921,686 737,007 597,936 457,853 104,629 22,998 14,628

See also Population and housing censuses by country

Notes

References