Proportion of ‘intact’ and ‘stepfamilies’, by province and territory, Canada 2011
Notes:
Intact family – all children are the biological and/or adopted children of both married spouse or of both common-law partners’.
Simple stepfamily – a couple family in which all children are biological or adopted children of one, and only one, married spouse or common-law partner whose birth or adoption preceded the current relationship.
Complex stepfamily – any of the following: a family in which there is at least one child of both parents and at least one child of only one parent; a family in which there is at least one child of each parent; and/or a family in which there is at least one child of both parents and at least one child of each parent.
Source: CICH graphic created using data adapted from Statistics Canada, 2012. Families and Households Highlight Tables. 2011 Census. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-312-XWE2011002. http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/dp-pd/hlt-fst/fam/index-eng.cfm?Lang=E -accessed March 19, 2017.
In 2011, there were 464,335 stepfamilies in Canada. They accounted for 12.6% of all couple families with children aged 24 and under.
In Québec, 16.1% of all couple families were stepfamilies, as was the case for 15.8% in the Yukon and 15.3% in the Northwest Territories. In Ontario stepfamilies account for only 11% of all couple families.
Stepfamilies – or blended families – take many forms in Canada today. There were 271,925 “simple” stepfamilies in Canada in 2011 – accounting for 59% of all stepfamilies.
In 2011, there were 192,410 “complex” stepfamilies in Canada – accounting for 41% of all stepfamilies.