In 1996 Statistics Canada conducted a national census of all persons and dwellings in Canada. This report summarizes the census results for the Northwest Territories on (i) marital status; and (ii) family characteristics. The planned release dates for other variables from the 1996 census are provided at the end of this report.

Results indicate that in the Northwest Territories the percentage of married people has been increasing over the past 25 years. Between 1971 and 1996 the percentage of married individuals (including common-law relationships) increased by 4 percentage points in the Northwest Territories, from 35% to 39%. Similarly for Canada, the percentage of married individuals increased from 44% to 47% between 1971 and 1996.

Between 1971 and 1996 the average family size for the Northwest Territories decreased by 23%, from 4.7 persons per family in 1971 to 3.6 in 1996. For all of Canada, the average size of a family decreased by 16%, from 3.7 to 3.1 family members, during the same period. Similarly, the percentage of families in the Northwest Territories with 5 or more persons, decreased from 44% of all families in 1971 to 25% in 1996. Family size, however, differs significantly between Nunavut and the Western NWT. For Nunavut, some 37% of families are comprised of 5 or more persons compared to 19% of families in the Western NWT.

In addition to the decline in family size in Northwest Territories observed for the 1971 to 1996 period, there has also been an increase in the population that lives outside of families. The percentage of territorial residents that are not part of a family has increased from 9% in 1971 to15% in 1996. Non-family persons represent 12% of the population in Nunavut, while in the Western NWT some 16% of the population are non-family persons.

Family structure information for the Northwest Territories indicates that some 17% of families are lone-parent families, compared with 15% of families in all of Canada. Similar incidence of lone parent families are observed for Nunavut (19% of all families) and for the Western NWT (16% of all families). Common law couple represent 33% of husband-wife families in the Northwest Territories, significantly higher than for Canada where common law couples are 14% of total husband-wife families.

For the 14,955 families reported in the Northwest Territories, 21% reported not having any children at home. For Canada, 35% of families reported not having children living at home at the time of the 1996 census. Of the 11,775 families with children at home for the Northwest Territories, 45% reported four years or less as the age of the youngest child at home. In comparison, 28% of families with children in Canada have their youngest child four years of age or lower. Comparable values for the percentage of families with children whose youngest child is under the age of five for Nunavut and the Western NWT are 53% and 40% respectively. On average, there were a total of 1.8 children per family in the Northwest Territories compared to an average of 1.2 children per family for all of Canada. For Nunavut, the average number of children per family is higher at 2.2 persons per family than for the Western NWT at 1.6 children per family.

Examining the population under 15 years of age indicates that 93% of these children live with at least one of their parents in the Northwest Territories. For the 7% not living with parents, 6% live with another family member and the other 1% live with non-relatives. For Canada, 98% of children under 15 years of age live with a parent while 1.6% live with other relatives.

There were a total of 18,825 private households reported in the Northwest Territories at the time of the 1996 census, 10,420 (55%) of which were reported as single-detached homes. On a population basis, 65% of persons in the Northwest Territories lived in a single-detached home. On average, there were 3.4 people per household in the Northwest Territories compared to an average of 2.6 persons per home for all of Canada.

Age

• Refers to the age at last birthday (as of the census reference date, May 14, 1996).

Census Family

• Refers to a now-married couple (with or without never-married sons and/or daughters of either or both spouses), a couple living common-law (with or without never-married sons and/or daughters of either or both partners) or a lone-parent of any marital status, with at least one never-married son or daughter living in the same dwelling.

Family Structure

• Refers to the classification of census families into families of now-married couples (with or without never-married sons or daughters of either or both spouses), families of common-law couples (with or without never-married sons or daughters of either or both partners) and lone-parent families by sex of parent.

Household

• Refers to a person or a group of persons (other than foreign residents), who occupy the same dwelling and do not have a usual place of residence elsewhere in Canada. It may consist of a family group (census family) with or without other non-family persons, of two or more families sharing a dwelling, of a group of unrelated persons, or of one person living alone. Household members who are temporarily absent on Census Day (e.g., temporary residents elsewhere) are considered as part of their usual household. For census purposes, every person is a member of one and only one household. Unless otherwise specified, all data in household reports are for private households only. Households are classified into three groups: private households, collective households and households outside Canada.

Living Arrangements

• Refers to the classification of persons in terms of whether they are members of a family household or a non-family household, and whether they are family or non-family persons.

Marital Status

• Refers to the conjugal status of a person. The conjugal status can be further defined by legal and other, the major difference being that other includes common-law marriages in its definition of married.

Occupied Private Dwelling

• Refers to a private dwelling in which a person or a group of persons are permanently residing. Also included are private dwellings whose usual residents are temporarily absent on Census Day.

Sex

• Refers to the gender of the respondent.

Type of Dwelling

• Refers to the structural characteristics and/or dwelling configuration, that is, whether the dwelling is a single-detached house, an apartment in a high-rise building, a row house, a mobile home, etc.