Demographic trends of marriages in Canada: 1921-1990

This paper mainly describes levels and trends of marriages and rates and its relationship with demographic and social conditions in Canada from 1921 to 1990. In Canada, the propensity to marry was much higher in the 1960s and early 1970s than in the 1980s. A similar tendency was observed for a few years prior to, and at the beginning of, World War II and a couple of years after. The number of marriages peaked at an all time high of 200,470 in 1972 with a rate of 44.3 per 1,000 unmarried population aged 15-59. By 1986 the number of marriages had declined by 12.4% and the rate by 33.2%, but both the number of marriages and the rate increased marginally in the following three years. Since 1921 the average age at marriage has increased by 3.6 years for brides and 1.7 years for grooms. The proportion of marriages by previously divorced persons increased sharply after 1968. The changes in marriage rates in Canada parallel those exhibited in the United States and other developed countries in the western hemisphere.