Indigenous peoples (First Nations, Inuit, Métis) by census division, according to the
2021 Canadian census A variety of estimations have been postulated for the
Indigenous population in
what is now Canada prior to
European contact. Estimates of this population during the late 15th century range between 200,000 with a figure of 500,000 currently accepted by Canada's
Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. Although not without conflict,
European Canadians' early interactions with First Nations and Inuit populations were relatively peaceful. However repeated outbreaks of European
infectious diseases such as
influenza,
measles and
smallpox (to which they had no natural immunity), combined with other effects of European contact, resulted in a twenty-five per cent to eighty per cent Indigenous population decrease post-contact. Roland G Robertson suggests that during the late 1630s, smallpox killed over half of the
Wendat (Huron), who controlled most of the early
North American fur trade in the area of
New France. In 1822 the Indigenous Canadian population, excluding the Métis, was estimated as 283,500 people. In 1871, there was an enumeration of the Indigenous population within the limits of Canada at the time, showing a total of only 102,358 individuals. From 2006 to 2016, the Indigenous population has grown by 42.5 per cent, four times the national rate. The Indigenous population representing 5 percent or 1.8 million individuals, grew by 9.4 percent compared to the non-Indigenous population, which grew by 5.3 percent from 2016 to 2021. The
2021 Census data reveals that there are over 1.8 million Indigenous people in Canada, comprising 5.0% of the overall Canadian population, a slight increase from 4.9% in 2016.
New France The European population grew slowly under French rule, thus remained relatively low as growth was largely achieved through natural births, rather than by immigration. Most of the French were farmers, and the rate of natural increase among the settlers themselves was very high. The women had about 30 per cent more children than comparable women who remained in France. The
1666 census of New France was the first census conducted in North America. It was organized by
Jean Talon, the first
Intendant of New France, between 1665 and 1666. The census showed a great difference in the number of men at 2,034 versus 1,181 women. Mainly due to natural increase and modest immigration from
Northwest France (
Brittany,
Normandy,
Île-de-France,
Poitou-Charentes and
Pays de la Loire) the population of New France increased to 55,000 according to the last French census of 1754. This was an increase from 42,701 in 1730.
British Canada During the late 18th and early 19th century
Canada under British rule experienced strong population growth. In the wake of the
1775 invasion of Canada by the newly formed
Continental Army during the
American Revolutionary War, approximately 60,000 of the 80,000 Americans loyal to the Crown, designated later as
United Empire Loyalists fled to
British North America, a large portion of whom migrated to Nova Scotia and
New Brunswick (separated from Nova Scotia) in 1784. Although the exact numbers cannot be certain because of unregistered migration At least 20,000 went to Nova Scotia, 14,000 to New Brunswick; 1,500 to PEI and 6,000 to Ontario(13,000 including 5,000 blacks went to England and 5,500 to the Caribbean). For the rest of the 1780s additional immigrants arrived from the south. From 1791 An additional 30,000 Americans, called "Late Loyalists", were lured into Ontario in the 1790s by the promise of land and swearing loyalty to the Crown. As a result of the period known as the
Great Migration by 1831,
Lower Canada's population had reached approximately 553,000, with
Upper Canada reaching about 237,000 individuals. The
Great Famine of Ireland of the 1840s had significantly increased the pace of Irish immigration to
Prince Edward Island and the
Province of Canada, peaking in 1847 with 100,000 distressed individuals. By 1851, the population of the
Maritime colonies also reached roughly 533,000 (277,000 in
Nova Scotia, 194,000 in New Brunswick and 62,000 in Prince Edward Island). To the west
British Columbia had about 55,000 individuals by 1851. By 1861, as a result of natural births and the
Great Migration of Canada from the
British Isles, the
Province of Canada population increased to 3.1 million inhabitants. The year with the least population growth (in real terms) was 1882–1883, when only 30,000 new individuals were enumerated. This was an increase of 34% over the
1901 census of 5,371,315. The year with the most population growth was during the peak of the
Post-World War II baby boom in 1956–1957, when the population grew by over 529,000, in a single twelve-month period. The
1996 census recorded a total population of 28,846,761. This was a 5.7% increase over the
1991 census of 27,296,859. In contrast, the official
Statistics Canada population estimate for 2001 was 31,021,300. Canada's total population enumerated by the
2006 census was 31,612,897. Ninety per cent of the population growth between 2001 and 2006 was concentrated in the
main metropolitan areas. The
2011 census was the fifteenth decennial census with a total population count of 33,476,688, up 5.9% from 2006. On average, censuses have been taken every five years since 1905. Censuses are required to be taken at least every ten years as mandated in section 8 of the
Constitution Act, 1867. Estimates based on census data and historical demographic patterns suggest that approximately 15 to 20 million Canadians (roughly 40% to 50% of the population) have at least some ancestry dating back to the colonial period (pre-1867). ==Components of population growth==