Summer is upon us, and Canadians are eager to enjoy the warmer weather.
Particularly, we love the water; after all, Canada has over 247,000 kilometres of coastline, more than any other country in the world.
Furthermore, in 2016, 4.8 million Canadians lived within 10 kilometres or less of the Pacific, Arctic or Atlantic coasts.
Canada also has the world’s largest island in a freshwater lake: Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron, Ontario (2,765 square kilometres). Throw in the over 1.3 million square kilometres of total freshwater area—13% of the country's landscape—and there’s plenty of room for everyone to swim, boat or fish.
In fact, the supply of renewable freshwater is so large that it represented, on average, 104,000 cubic metres of water per capita in 2011, almost equivalent to the flow over Niagara Falls in one minute for each and every Canadian. The average annual water yield flowing into Canada’s rivers and streams from 1971 to 2013 was estimated at 3,478 cubic kilometres.
Close to 6.3 million canoeing or kayaking excursions were reported by Canadians travelling domestically between July and September 2021, up by nearly a fifth (+19.7%) compared with the same period in 2019.
There were 11.6 million visits to Canadian beaches in the same stretch of 2021, and almost 6.5 million boating trips in Canadian waters.
Need somewhere to moor that boat and impress the onlookers? Canada had 909 marinas in 2021. There were also 522 facilities for scenic and sightseeing transportation, if you prefer to hop on a boat and enjoy the view.
For those who commute by water, there were 116 establishments operating ferries in 2021.
Canada also had a total of 291 amusement and theme parks in 2021, an industry category that includes water parks.
Finally, more and more Canadians like to take a dip in their own backyards. Over 3,000 residential building permits for inground swimming pools were issued in May 2022. More than 23,000 such permits were issued for all of 2021, compared with about 18,800 in 2020 and over 12,800 in 2019.
Whatever water activity you enjoy, do it safely! Have a great Canadian summer.
Contact information
For more information, contact the Statistical Information Service (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).