A Father’s Day statistical sketch of a typical hard working Canadian dad

To celebrate the day of dads, rather than the traditional gift of a card, necktie, socks or beer, let’s paint a nostalgia-filled statistical sketch of the typical Canadian dad that you can put on your fridge.

Dads are older….

Over three-quarters (77%) of dads in Canada were aged 25 to 39 at the birth of their child in 2021. However, the average age of dads is increasing.

Dads were on average 33.6 years old at the birth of their child in 2021, 2.9 years older compared with three decades earlier, in 1991. Over the same period, the average age of a mom in Canada at the birth of her child rose by 3.4 years to 31.1 years.

The share of dads aged 35 and older at the birth of their child has nearly doubled in 30 years, from 20.2% of dads in 1991 to 39.5% in 2021. The share of dads aged 40 and older more than doubled during that same period, from 6.1% to 14.1%.

Conversely, the share of dads aged 20 to 29 fell from 39.4% to 22.2% over the 30-year period.

Location, location, location…

In 2021, dads in British Columbia (34.4 years) and Ontario (34.0 years) were the oldest on average at the birth of their child in 2021, while dads in Nunavut (29.7 years) and New Brunswick (31.6 years) were the youngest.

Over three-quarters (76.1%) of dads aged 30 and older were living in a census metropolitan area (CMA). This urban tendency was even more pronounced among dads aged 40 and older (80.8%).

Conversely, fewer than half (48.1%) of dads under the age of 25 at the birth of their child were living in a CMA.

More dads from elsewhere…

The share of dads born outside Canada has more than doubled in 30 years, rising from 13.7% in 1991 to 32.5% in 2021.

Among fathers born outside Canada, the top three countries of birth in 1991 were the United Kingdom (12.3%), India (9.5%) and the United States (8.4%). In 2021, the top three countries of birth were India (18.1%), the Philippines (6.8%) and China (4.8%).

Most dads work

Over 9 in 10 Canadian dads aged 20 to 49 living with their own children 17 years or younger (91.8%) were working in 2021, just below pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels and 1.5 percentage points lower compared with 1976 when 93.3% of dads in this age group worked.

Dads aged 20 to 49 living with their own children 17 years of age or younger were far more likely to work than men (77.9%) and women (77.6%) in the same age range without children in 2021.

So, here’s to the modern dad in Canada.

Happy Father’s Day!