The number of Indigenous families living in urban centres is growing.

In 2016, 867,415 Indigenous people lived in a metropolitan area of at least 30,000 people, accounting for over half (52%) of the total Indigenous population. Between 2006 to 2016, the number of Indigenous people living in an urban centre of this size increased by 60%. Of the three Indigenous groups, Métis are the most likely to live in a city, with 63% living in a metropolitan area of at least 30,000 people.¹

The rates of overcrowding and poor quality housing are higher among Indigenous households in urban centers than among non-Indigenous households. Eleven percent of urban Indigenous households are overcrowded compared with 4% of non-Indigenous households, while Indigenous households are two times more likely to live in homes in need of major repair.² Indigenous people are also less likely to own their homes than are non-Indigenous people.³

¹Statistics Canada. (2017). Aboriginal peoples in Canada: Key results from the 2016 Census. The Daily. October 25, 2017.
²Statistics Canada. (2015). Aboriginal statistics at a glance: 2nd Edition. Ottawa, ON: Statistics Canada, Catalogue no. 89-645- x2015001.
³Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. [CMHC]. (2016). 2011 Census/National Household Survey housing conditions series: Issue 10 – The housing conditions of off-reserve status Indian households.