Canadian Divorce Statistics (2006)

Here’s a sampling of statistics on marriage and divorce in Canada:

• About 48.5% of the adult population in Canada was married in 2006 (as opposed to single, separated, divorced, widowed or living in common law). This is the first known time in Canadian history that the percentage was under half; according to CanWest News Service, the figure was 50.1% in 2001 and more than 60% during the 1980s.
• The number of marriages in the country was 149,236 in 2006 — down nearly 2,000 from the previous year, but up from 148,585 in 2004.
• In 2006, there were 1,629,490 divorced Canadians — or about 5% of the population. 941,306 (well over half) of the divorcees were female.
• As of 2006, there were 1,414,060 single-parent families in Canada — or approximately 15.9% of all families. Of the lone-parent families, 1,132,290 were headed by the mother. In 1971, the number was approximately 476,300.
• There were 70,828 divorces in 2003 — down from 71,144 in 2000.
• More than one-third of marriages in Canada will end in divorce before the thirtieth anniversary.
• A recent study from the National Population Health Survey shows that men between the ages of 20 and 64 are six times as likely to suffer from depression if they were divorced or separated, than if they stayed married. For women, the figure is 3.5 times as likely for the divorced or separated.
• According to the same NPHS survey, 43% of women who have undergone a marital breakup (divorce or separation) had a substantial decrease in household income, while 15% of separated or divorced men had a financial decline.

(Source: Statistics Canada)