First Nations people, Métis and Inuit in Canada - Video transcript
(Statistics Canada symbol and Canada word mark appear on screen with the title: "First Nations people, Métis and Inuit in Canada")
The 2021 Census counted 1.8 million Indigenous people in 2021. Indigenous people now account for 5.0% of the total population of Canada.
The Indigenous population grew by 9.4% from 2016 to 2021. This surpassed the growth of the non-Indigenous population, which was 5.3%. However, this growth was not as rapid as in years past. From 2011 to 2016, the Indigenous population grew by 18.9%. This was over double the 2021 growth rate.
For the first time, the Census of Population enumerated more than 1 million First Nations people living in Canada. The total number was 1,048,405.
In 2021, there were 624,220 Métis living in Canada, up 6.3% from 2016.
There were 70,545 Inuit living in Canada in 2021. 69.0% were living in Inuit Nunangat, the homeland of Inuit in Canada.
The Inuit population living outside Inuit Nunangat grew by 23.6%. This was a faster pace than that for the population within the Inuit homeland, which was 2.9%.
The Census counted 801,045 Indigenous peopleiving in large urban centres, up 12.5% from 2016.
The Indigenous population was 8.2 years younger on average than the non-Indigenous population. 17.2% core-working-age Indigenous people were "close to retirement", meaning 55 to 64 years old. For the non-Indigenous population, the proportion was 22.0%.
For First Nations, Métis, and Inuit families, grandparents often play an important role in raising children. This includes passing down values, traditions and cultural knowledge to younger generations. In 2021, 14.2% of Indigenous children lived with at least one grandparent, compared with 8.9% of non-Indigenous children.
16.4% of Indigenous people were living in a dwelling in need of major repairs, compared to 5.7% of non-Indigenous people. Additionally, 17.1% lived in crowded housing, compared to 9.4% of the non-Indigenous population in 2021.
18.8% of Indigenous people in Canada lived in a low-income household in 2021. This was down nearly 10 percentage points from 2016. The decline was likely driven by government transfers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2021, 237,420 Indigenous people in Canada could speak an Indigenous language well enough to conduct a conversation. While the number of people with an Indigenous mother tongue has been in decline, there is growth in the number of Indigenous second-language speakers.
Definitions and concepts, as well as data at the provincial and territorial and levels, are available in the Daily of September 21, 2022.
(Canada wordmark appears on screen.)