Twenty years of marriages

In 1994, a total of 159,959 marriages were performed in Canada, up only slightly from 159,316 the year before. This small increase had no effect on the crude marriage rate, which remained at 5.5 marriages per 1,000 population. Aside from a brief uptum in the late 1980s, Canada's marriage rate has fallen quite steadily since the early 1970s. The overall decline is also evident when rates are disaggregated by the prior marital status of the bride and groom (single, divorced or widowed). Since 1974, the average ages of brides and grooms have risen about five years to 30.1 and 32.6, respectively. Nonetheless, the peak ages for marriage are the twenties. In this age range, women's marriage rates exceed those of men, but at older ages, men's rates are higher. And at progressively older ages, a growing proportion of grooms have brides at least 10 years their junior. The marriage patterns of Quebec residents differ from those of other Canadians. Quebec residents are much more likely to remain single or live common-law, and if they do marry, they are slightly more likely to divorce. Once divorced or widowed, people in Quebec are less likely than those in the rest of Canada to remarry. This article is based on data compiled by Statistics Canada from marriage registration forms provided by the central Vital Statistics Registry in each province and territory.