section_path: Demographics
section_name: Demographics
paragraph_text: Demographics
  
  The 2021 Canadian census enumerated a total population of 36,991,981, an increase of around 5.2 percent over the 2016 figure. It is estimated that Canada's population surpassed 40,000,000 in 2023. The main drivers of population growth are immigration and, to a lesser extent, natural growth. Canada has one of the highest per-capita immigration rates in the world, driven mainly by economic policy and family reunification. A record 405,000 immigrants were admitted in 2021. Canada leads the world in refugee resettlement; it resettled more than 47,600 in 2022. New immigrants settle mostly in major urban areas, such as Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.
  
  Canada's population density, at 4.2 inhabitants per square kilometre (11/sq mi), is among the lowest in the world. Canada spans latitudinally from the 83rd parallel north to the 41st parallel north and approximately 95 percent of the population is found south of the 55th parallel north. About 80 percent of the population lives within 150 kilometres (93 mi) of the border with the contiguous United States. Canada is highly urbanized, with over 80 percent of the population living in urban centres. The most densely populated part of the country, accounting for nearly 50 percent, is the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor in Southern Quebec and Southern Ontario along the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River.
  
  The majority of Canadians (81.1 percent) live in family households, 12.1 percent report living alone, and 6.8 percent live with other relatives or unrelated persons. Fifty-one percent of households are couples with or without children, 8.7 percent are single-parent households, 2.9 percent are multigenerational households, and 29.3 percent are single-person households.