By the Numbers: Aboriginal Peoples of Canada

Toronto – June 26, 2013 – The Aboriginal peoples of Canada, as defined by the Constitution Act, 1982, comprise the Indian, Inuit and Métis peoples of Canada. The Aboriginal population increased by 232,385 people, or 20.1% between 2006 and 2011, compared with 5.2% for the non-Aboriginal population.  In 2011, the average age of First Nations people was younger than the non-Aboriginal population in every province and territory.

The Aboriginal peoples comprise in total 1.4 million First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples: about 4.3 per cent of the total Canadian population.

The First Nations population is the largest aboriginal group, with 851,560 members.

There are approximately 630 First Nations governments or bands in Canada.

73.7 per cent of all Aboriginal peoples live off-reserve in Canada.

More than one in five Aboriginal peoples in Canada live in Ontario - making Ontario home to the largest Aboriginal community in the country.

According to 2006 Census, 54 per cent of Canada’s Aboriginal population live in urban areas, and the rate has been growing steadily, almost doubling in the larger cities. In Winnipeg, the Aboriginal peoples represent about 10% of the city's total population.

There are 11 Aboriginal language groups in Canada, made up of more than 65 distinct dialects. Cree, Inuktitut and Ojibwe are the most predominant dialects among the 213,485 respondents who reported an Aboriginal language as their mother tongue.

The Métis population is the fastest growing all Aboriginal peoples, with an increase of 91 per cent over the past ten years, with 451,795 people self-identifying as Métis in the 2011 Census.

Aboriginal children represented 7 per cent of all children in Canada in 2011.

The median age of the Aboriginal peoples is 27-years-old.

48 per cent of Aboriginal people are younger than 25-years-old, compared to 31 per cent of
non-Aboriginal Canadians.

By 2026, 36 per cent of the population aged 15-29 in Saskatchewan is projected to be Aboriginal. In Manitoba this young generation is projected to be 28 per cent.