A Look at Fascinating Census Data for Mississauga

Over the past few years, there’s been a lot of talk about the incredible growth that Peel—and Mississauga—has enjoyed and is expecting to continue to enjoy over the next few years.

For that reason, some people might have been surprised to see that Mississauga’s population didn’t grow much at all between 2011 and 2016, according to the 2016 Census. Data from the census indicates that Mississauga’s population inched up from 713,443 people five years ago to about 721,599 today.

That means the city only experienced about one per cent growth.

While the climb is small, Mississauga is still holding firm as the sixth largest city in Canada.
Interestingly enough, Mississauga’s neighbours have experienced significant growth over the last five years. Milton, Brampton and Caledon have all grown, with Brampton growing 13.3 per cent from 2011 until now. Now, Canada’s ninth largest city is home to 593,638 people. Caledon, Peel’s oft-ignored little town, grew from 59,460 people to 66,502.

Milton experienced incredible growth, with its population increasing from 84,362 to 110,128 (meaning it saw a pretty wild 30 per cent increase).

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The city of Toronto enjoyed modest growth. The city is now home to 2,731,571 people (up from 2,615,060 people in 2011). That indicates growth of about 4.5 per cent.

As far as Canada in general goes, the census pegged the country’s population at 35,151,728. Data also revealed that three in five Canadians live in Quebec and Ontario and count for 61.5 per cent of the Canadian population. Ontario remains the country’s most populous province, as it houses 38.3 per cent of Canada’s population (about 13.4 million people).

The census also notes that from 2011 to 2016, Canada’s population increased by 1.7 million or five per cent, a slightly lower rate than 5.9 per cent from 2006 to 2011.

Data also indicates that about two-thirds of Canada’s population growth was the result of migratory increase (the difference between the number of immigrants and emigrants). Natural increase (the difference between the number of births and deaths) accounted for the remaining one-third. In the coming years, population growth in Canada is projected to be increasingly linked to migratory increase rather than natural increase, mainly because of low fertility and an aging population.

The latest census numbers review the gender breakdown in Mississauga, as well as the amount of dwelling types in the city and who is living in what kind of housing.

You might be asking yourself why there are still census numbers coming out if they released it a few months ago, showing the population numbers. The national census was scrapped during the previous Conservative government, so the 2011 Census had less than adequate information available. So people may not remember that the last time a complete census was done, in 2006, that the data was so voluminous that the information was released in stages.

May 2017 marked the release of the age / sex breakdown as well as type of dwelling for various communities, including Mississauga and Brampton. There will be information released throughout the rest of 2017 regarding income, language, education and other criteria, but for now, let’s look at how many men and women live in Canada’s sixth largest city, as well as the type of housing people in Mississauga are opting for.

Breakdown of Population by Gender (Men and Women)

Total Population: 721,600

Male: 351,930

Female: 369,670

So you can see here that Mississauga has slightly more women than men (51 per cent women versus 49 per cent men). That is just slightly above the national average for the gender breakdown (50.88 per cent women across Canada).

The census numbers also specify that almost 500,000 residents in Mississauga are between the ages of 15 to 64, but that pretty much means just about every other person.

Type of Dwelling for Mississauga residents

Total number of occupied private dwellings: 240,910

Single detached houses: 90,780

Apartments in buildings with 5 or more stories: 63,130

Apartment in buildings that has fewer than five storeys: 17,630

Apartment or flat in a duplex: 8,120

Semi-detached houses: 26,730

Row houses: 34,115

So in terms of private dwellings, the single detached house still has a strong presence in Mississauga (nobody’s going to be bulldozing long standing, established subdivisions of detached homes anytime soon). At 37.68 per cent of private dwellings in Mississauga, single detached homes still make up a good chunk of this city’s housing stock.

But you can see that coming in a strong second are apartment units in buildings five storeys or higher, at about a quarter of that stock. There’s also a sizable amount of semi-detached (townhouses) as well as row houses, the latter of which has become a preferable housing option by city planners in recent years.

One final interesting number is that there are 80 “other” single-attached houses (no specifics were given as to what defines as ‘other’), as well as 330 movable dwellings, which include mobile homes and other movable dwellings such as houseboats, recreational vehicles and railroad cars. If I’m not mistaken, I do believe there is a trailer park or two around Mississauga.

Other recently released census data shows a Canada (and Mississauga) that’s shifting, changing and embracing “new normals” as far as living and family situations are concerned.

The census–focused on families, households, marital statuses and language–reveals a changing social landscape where more people are choosing to forego to delay parenthood, stay with their parents longer or live alone.

Now, it appears there are more childless couples than ever before and more and more people are choosing solo living over partnering up. According to the data, 28.2 per cent of Canadian households are occupied by just one resident, while 21.3 per cent of Canadians are in common law relationships.

The data also indicates that a staggering number of adults between the ages of 20 and 34–34.7 per cent, to be exact–are living with their parents (which should surprise no one due to the escalating cost of housing).

As far as languages go, 18 per cent of Canadians speak both English and French and 19.4 per cent of Canadians speak more than one language at home. As for Canadians whose first language is neither English nor French, the data reveals that 7,974,375 people boast a different mother tongue.

As for Mississauga, the numbers are just as interesting.

The city boasts a population of 721,599 (a very slight increase from the 713,443 it clocked in at in 2011) and a total of 248,469 private dwellings. As far as solo residents go, 44,960 households are occupied by a single person. Data indicates that 63,670 households are occupied by two people, 46,625 are occupied by three, 49,335 are occupied by four and 36,320 are occupied by five or more.

In terms of marital status, data shows that 345,335 residents are married or in common law relationships, with 319,385 married couples and 25,950 common law couples. A vast 255,335 residents over the age of 15 are single (or at least not married to/living with their partner).

The census shows that 181,745 residents have never been married, 14,875 are separated, 29,690 are divorced and 29,030 are widowed.

As far as families go, 77,690 family units consist of just two people. In terms of larger families, 50,780 families contain three people, 51,605 contain four and 22,130 contain five or more. The data also shows that 28,760 families are headed by single female parents, while 6,045 families boast a single male parent. There are a total of 34,810 single parent families in the city.

As for families with children, the census reveals that 47,355 census family households have no children, while 129,025 do.

In terms of languages, the vast majority of residents–639,690–identify English as their first language. Only 8,250 say French is their first language, 7,885 speak both languages and 25,270 speak a different first language entirely.

As far as mother tongues go, 330,005 residents speak English, while 342,815 speak other languages. Common languages in Mississauga include Arabic (29,900), Tagalog (20,325), Polish (26,610), Punjabi (20,240), Urdu (38,575), Italian (12,690), Portuguese (15,980), Spanish (15,995) and Chinese languages, including Mandarin and Cantonese (42,745).

Over half the population (435,955) speaks English at home.