Trends in birth and fertility rates, Canada, 1921-1987

This paper examines Canadian birth data from 1921 to 1987. Generally, birth and fertility rates have been declining since the baby boom of the 1940s and 1950s. Since 1972, Canada's total fertility rate has remained below the replacement level of 2.1, paralleling trends in the United States and other Western countries. From 1971 to 1987, the median age of mothers increased by two years for all births, and about three years each for first and second births. Changes in rates by province and by age are also examined.