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OTTAWA, November 21, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The latest statistics from the Canadian government’s statistics agency indicate that the number of Canadian marriages declined sharply in 2001, while the nation’s crude marriage rate sank to its lowest level ever.  A total of 146,618 couples tied the knot, down 6.8% from 157,395 in 2000.  The decline resumes the downward trend seen throughout the 1990s which was thought to have halted in 1999 and 2000 when marriage rates slightly increased.

The number of marriages in 2001 fell in all provinces and territories except the Northwest Territories (+2.9%) and Nunavut (+13.5%). Double-digit declines were experienced by Newfoundland and Labrador (-13.1%), New Brunswick (-12.2%), Quebec (-11.8%), Saskatchewan (-11.5%) and Nova Scotia (-11.1%).  The crude marriage rate fell to a record low of 4.7 marriages for every 1,000 people after holding steady at 5.1 for four years. Marriage data for 2001 indicate a return to a decreasing crude marriage rate.  Of the marriages performed in 2001, 76.4% were officiated by clergy and 23.6% by non-clergy, such as marriage commissioners, judges, justices of the peace or clerks of the court.  However, the numbers of non-clergy-officiated marriages are skewed by marriage in the Northwest (57%) and Yukon (77%) territories where there are a higher proportion of marriages officiated by non-clergy.  In all the provinces except British Columbia, the vast majority of marriages are officiated by clergy, with Ontario having the highest percentage at 98.5%.  Canadians continue to marry later in life. On average, brides were 31.9 years old in 2001, up 2.6 years from 1991 and 5.7 years from 1981. The average age of grooms was 34.4 in 2001, an increase of 2.6 years from 1991 and 5.6 years from 1981.  See the StatsCan marriage tables:  https://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/031120/d031120c.htm