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Did You Know?

153,306 :: Wedding ceremonies conducted in Canada in 1997. (StatsCan)

20,000 :: Approximate cost, in dollars, of an average Canadian wedding. (Canadian Online Disc Jockey Association)

93,750 :: Approximate cost, in dollars, of an average Japanese wedding. (Association for Wedding Professionals Int.)

188 :: Number of guests seated at a typical Canadian wedding reception. (CODJA)

114,000 :: Wedding ceremonies performed annually in Las Vegas, Nevada, the self-proclaimed "Wedding Capital of the World." (AFWPI)

166,000 :: Wedding ceremonies performed annually in Istanbul, Turkey, the actual wedding capital of the world. (AFWPI)

20 :: Percent of Canadian weddings held in August, the most popular month for tying the knot. (StatsCan)

76 :: Percent of Canadian wedding ceremonies in 1997 conducted by a member of the clergy. (StatsCan)

2 :: Number of months' salary a man should spend on an engagement ring, according to the diamond industry. (DeBeers)

0.96 :: Actual number of months' salary spent on an engagement ring. (CODJA/StatsCan)

3 :: Wedding chapels in Las Vegas named in honor of Elvis Presley. (411.com)

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• On July 12, 2002, the Ontario Superior Court ruled that the existing definition of marriage is unconstitutional, and needs to be redefined. Two of the three judges went on to say that parliament should adhere to the court's new definition: marriage is the union of 'two persons', instead of 'a man and a woman'.
• On July 29, 2002, Justice Minister Martin Cauchon responded to massive popular pressure and appealed the Ontario decision.
• On August 8, 2002, the government decided to form a committee on the definition of marriage in order to have a broader base of input.

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• There were over 156,000 couples that got married last year in Canada and over $4 billion dollars spent. (Stats Can: Marriages, 1998 84F0212XPB)
• 14 million Canadians have household access to the Internet. (Neilson/Net Ratings, August 2001)
• 59% of Internet users are potential clients for the wedding and bridal industry. (Angus Reid 1999)
• The majority of people getting married are between the ages of 20 and 35 years of age, most of who have access to and use the Internet to find information. (Stats Can: Marriages, 1998 84F0212XPB)
• With more than 29% of Brides getting married in a different city than which they live it is important to be geographically relevant to your consumer.

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• Did you know that in Ontario you can only be married by a Justice of the peace or an ordained minister? and in many municipalities it is difficult to find JP's.
• Did you know there are close to 600 different religious denominations in Canada, most of which can and do perform wedding ceremonies?
• There are some wedding Officiants however that are not trained by a denomination but are licensed by an organization that is only a denomination on paper. This is something for the couple being married to take into consideration. Look for professionals in this field who have experience and training. There are many ordained ministers who are non-denominational and are very flexible in working with the couple to provide a ceremony that is relevant to their beliefs.

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Mixed Couples On Rise

More and more Canadians have formed unions involving partners from different ethnic origins, religions or visible minority groups, according to a new study.

These unions still represent a low proportion of the total in Canada, but they have gained ground over the last decade, according to the report in Statistics Canada’s quarterly publication Canadian Social Trends.

In 2001, an estimated 14.1 million people were living as either a married couple, or as a couple in a common-law union. Of these, some 452,000 individuals were in a couple comprised of one visible minority and one non-visible minority, or members of two different visible minority groups.

This was a 35% increase from 1991, more than three times the increase of 10% for all people living in a couple.

Growing cultural diversity

In 2001, mixed unions represented 3.2% of all people living in couples in Canada, up from 2.6% a decade earlier.

Mixed couples could be increasing for many reasons. A key factor is Canada’s growing cultural diversity. In 2001, there were more members of visible minority groups in Canada than at any time in the past, creating a larger pool of potential mates.

The 4.0 million visible minorities in Canada in 2001 accounted for more than 13% of the population, more than twice the proportion of only 5% in 1981.

Common-law unions

The most common type of mixed marriage or common-law union occurred between a member of a visible minority and someone who was not. There were 394,300 people in such couples in 2001, accounting for 2.8% of all people in couples, up from 2.4% in 1991.

Of these couples, 53% consisted of a woman who was a visible minority and a man who was not, and 47% the reverse.

About 4% of all common-law unions were mixed in 2001, compared with 2.9% of all marriages.

Mixed unions accounted for 7% of all people in couples in Vancouver, 6% in Toronto and 3% in Montreal.  However, among the age group 20 to 29, the proportions doubled to 13% in Vancouver, 11% in Toronto and 6% in Montreal.

You can read the report “Mixed unions” in the Summer 2004 edition of Canadian Social Trends.

For more information, contact Anne Milan (613-951-2756), Housing, Family and Social Statistics Division (StatsCan)

The views and opinions here are not necessarily those of KCW.

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