The Indigenous Population in Canada continues to grow at a faster rate.
According to the 2016 Census Numbers from Statistics Canada, there were 1,673,785 Aboriginal living in the country, which represents a 42.5 percent increase since 2006. Overall, it accounts for 4.9 percent of the nation’s overall population.
Photo/Woodland Cree Nation
StatsCan says two main factors for the increase in growth includes natural growth, including increased life expectancy and relatively high birth rates, as well as changes in self-reported identification, with more people newly identifying as Aboriginal on the census.
On a provincial scale, more than 55 percent of them live in one of the four western provinces, with 17.7 percent living in British Columbia, 14 percent living in Alberta, and 13.4 and 11.7 percent living in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, respectively. In comparison, just over 30 percent of non-Aboriginals lived in the western provinces.
Among Metis people, there are 587.545 living in Canada, with Alberta having the largest share among the Western Provinces. In this province, the number of Metis account for 19.5 percent of the national Metis population. Ontario had the largest share of all the provinces across Canada, at 20.5 percent of the Metis population.
As well, the First Nations, Metis and Inuit population continues to be significantly younger than the non-aboriginal population. The average age for Aboriginals is 32.1 years of age, compared with 40.9 for non-aboriginals.
More than 70 First Nations languages were also reported in the census, more than 30 of which had at least 500 people who could speak it. About 260,550 Aboriginals could speak an Indigenous language in 2016, up 3.1 percent from 2006.
– Posted by BET (Source: Statistics Canada)
