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Monday, August 14, 2006

Spotlight: Birth rate

Record low

THE BIRTH RATE fell to a record low in 2004 despite an increase in the number of babies born to residents of Canada.

The birth rate declined from 10.6 live births for every 1,000 population in 2003 to 10.5 in 2004.

The 2004 edition of the report Births also showed that there were a little more than 337,000 babies born in 2004, up by nearly 1,900 (or less than 1%) compared with 2003. This followed a nearly 2% gain the year before.

In 2004 the number of births increased in only 5 of the 13 provinces and territories: Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario, Alberta and Yukon.

Immigration, migration drive trends

Inter-provincial migration and immigration have had a major impact on the number of births in various provinces.

In Alberta, about 29 births in every 100 were to women who were born elsewhere in Canada, while about 20 were to international immigrants. Only 51 in every 100 were to women born in that province.

Ontario, meanwhile, relied much more on international immigrants for births. A total of 56 births out of every 100 in Ontario were to women born in Ontario, while 36 out of every 100 were to women born in other countries. Only 8 in 100 were to women born elsewhere in Canada.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, the number of births in 2004 was only about half the level of 1983. One reason behind this decline is out-migration, especially among men and women aged 20 to 29, as well as insufficient in-migration, both from within Canada and from other nations.

Fertility rate unchanged

The total fertility rate is an estimate of the average number of children that women will have during the years they are aged 15 to 49, based on current age-specific birth rates.

In 2004, the total fertility rate was unchanged from the 2003 rate of 1.53 children per woman.

Canada's total fertility rate is very close to the 2003 average rate of other industrialized countries: 1.56 children per woman. However, the Canadian rate is much lower than the rate of 2.05 in the United States in 2004.

The record-low fertility rate for Canada was set in 2000, at 1.49 children per woman.

Studies have shown that immigrants have higher fertility rates compared with Canadian-born women, but those rates decline to Canadian levels with the second-generation. (For more on the declining fertility rates of immigrants, see The Daily, December 22, 2003, "Canada's demographic situation: Fertility of immigrant women").

See also a previous Spotlight on visible minority women and Fertility.

For more information, contact Client Services at (613) 951-1746, Health Statistics Division.

See also
Mothers keep getting older THE DAILY – Births