# 1971 Canadian census

The 1971 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population. Census day was June 1, 1971.
On that day, Statistics Canada attempted to count every person in Canada. The total population count was 21,568,311. This was a 7.8% increase over the 1966 Census of 20,014,880.

## Canada by the numbers

A summary of information about Canada.
| Total population | 21,568,311 |
| Dwellings | 6,034,508 |
| Men | 10,795,369 |
| Women | 10,772,942 |

## Census summary

This census was the first time Statistics Canada organized the event as the Dominion Bureau of Statistics changed its name on August 3, 1971, due to the Statistics Act on May 1, 1970. One of the reasons it did this is because the word Dominion cannot be well translated into French.
Canada experienced one of its biggest census growths with the population increasing by 7.8% from 20,014,880 in 1966 to 21,568,311.
The Northwest Territories and Yukon's populations soared rising above the national average with the Northwest Territories 17.4% and Yukon 21.7%. British Columbia and Alberta's populations also saw substantial growth, both going over the national average for British Columbia to grow 14.2% and Alberta 10.1%.
The census also revealed a rise in the number of immigrants living in the country. 1,347,155 or 6.2% of the population compared to 1,055,818 or 5.2% in 1966. Ontario was the most diverse province with 9.9% of inhabitants reporting citizenship other than Canadian. Newfoundland, as it was called before 2001, was the least diverse province with 99.1% of the population having Canadian citizenship. 60.1% of people claimed English as their mother tongue compared to 58.4% a decade earlier. Canadians who claimed French as their mother tongue, however, shrunk from 28% to 26.8%.

## Population by province

The population of each province in Canada:
| Rank | Province or territory | Population as of 1971 census | Population as of 1966 census | Change | Percent change |
| 1 | Ontario | 7,703,106 | 6,960,870 | 742,236 | 9.6 |
| 2 | Quebec | 6,027,764 | 5,780,845 | 246,919 | 4.0 |
| 3 | British Columbia | 2,184,621 | 1,873,674 | 310,947 | 14.2 |
| 4 | Alberta | 1,627,874 | 1,463,203 | 164,671 | 10.1 |
| 5 | Manitoba | 988,247 | 963,066 | 25,181 | 2.5 |
| 6 | Saskatchewan | 926,242 | 955,344 | -29,102 | -3.0 |
| 7 | Nova Scotia | 788,960 | 756,039 | 32,921 | 4.2 |
| 8 | New Brunswick | 634,557 | 616,788 | 17,769 | 2.8 |
| 9 | Newfoundland | 522,104 | 493,396 | 28,708 | 5.5 |
| 10 | Prince Edward Island | 111,641 | 108,535 | 3,106 | 2.8 |
| 11 | Northwest Territories | 34,807 | 28,738 | 6,069 | 17.4 |
| 12 | Yukon | 18,388 | 14,382 | 4,006 | 21.7 |
| | Canada | 21,568,311 | 20,014,880 | 1,553,431 | 7.2 |

## Mother tongue

Population by mother tongue:
| Mother tongue | Population as of 1971 census | Population as of 1966 census | Change | Percent change |
| English | 12,973,810 | 10,660,534 | 2,313,276 | 21,71 |
| French | 5,793,650 | 5,123,151 | 670,499 | 26,9 |
| German | 561,085 | 563,713 | 2,628 | -0,47 |
| Italian | 538,360 | 339,626 | 198,734 | 58.52 |
| Ukrainian | 309,855 | 361,496 | 51,641 | -14,29 |
| Other | 1,391,551 | 1,645,932 | 254,381 | 18.29 |