Key Takeaways:

• There were 2.731 million people in Toronto in 2016, 52% of whom were women. North York had 644,685 residents in 2016, over half of whom were women.
• The average household size in Toronto was 2.4 in 2016. There were 2.51 people per household in North York in the same year.
• In Toronto, over 54.1% were Christians and almost 25% had no religious affiliations. Due to data unavailability, Toronto's religious and political affiliation data has been assumed for North York.

Introduction:

• The results for the 2021 national Census are yet to be released. Therefore, the research team mostly relied on data from the 2016 Census. The research team managed to dig out a City Planning profile for North York, but it was still based on the 2016 Census data. Unfortunately, all the data below has been sourced from sources that are older than Wonder's 24-month limit. Below is an overview of the findings.

Toronto

Population and Gender

• Based on Canada's 2016 Census, Toronto's population was 2.731 million in 2016, up from 2.615 million in 2011. According to population demographics data provided by the City of Toronto, Toronto's population was estimated at 3.060 million and 3.109 million in 2019 and 2020, respectively.
• Based on the 2016 Census data, females and males made up 52% (1.420 million) and 48% (1.311 million) of Toronto's population, respectively. If the 2020 population estimate of 3.109 million was accurate, then there would have been about 1.617 million and 1.492 million females and males in Toronto in 2020, respectively.

Marital Status

• In 2016, 1.181 million of the 2.333 million Torontonians aged over 15 years were either married (1.011 million) or living in common law (170,175). The remaining 1.152 million were neither married nor living in common law. Of these, 806,265 were never married, 68,715 were separated, 152,000 were divorced, and 125,095 were widowed.

People per Household

• In 2016, there were about 1.113 million occupied private dwellings/households in Toronto made up of 269,675 single detached houses, 493,280 apartments in five-storey-plus buildings, 349,885 'other attached dwellings,' and 95 movable dwellings. Of the 1.113 million private households, 359,955, 333,425, 175,720, 146,580, and 97,245 had one, two, three, four, and over five persons, respectively. Being that there were 2.692 million people in private households, the average household size was 2.4.

Children per Household

• In 2016, there were 718,755 "census families in private households" in Toronto, with 566,155 being couple families and 152,600 being lone-parent families. There were 316,075 couple families with children, of which 133,440, 130,765, and 51,865 had one child, two children, and three or more children, respectively. It was not possible to calculate the average number of children per household using these figures since it was not possible to determine how the Census defined children, and how many they were.

Household Income

• In 2015, the latest data available, there were 2.187 million income recipients in Toronto, and the median income per recipient was $30,089. In 2015, the latest data available, the average household income was $102,721 for all households and $55,409 for single-person household.
• The median household income in Toronto in 2015 was $65,829 before tax and $58,264 after tax. The median household income for one-person households in 2015 was $38,018 before tax and $34,172 after tax. The median income for multi-person households was $82,908 before tax and $73,695 after tax.

Household Spending

• About 704,665 (63.4%) of Toronto's 1.111 million tenant and owner households in non-reserve, non-farm dwellings spent below 30% of their income on shelter costs. The remaining 406,070 (36.6%) spent over 30% on shelter costs. Also, about 27.4% and 46.8% of owner and tenant households spent over 30% of income on shelter costs, respectively.
• The Census data did not provide any further information on household spending in Toronto. There is no data especially for spending on food, transportation, entertainment, or other expenditures.
• LowestRates.ca's 2020 index placed the average annual cost of living at $39,884.76 for renters who drove and $62,418.72 for homeowners who drove. The cost was a bit lower for commuters with renters and homeowners spending about $36,104.88 and $58,638.84 on average annually, respectively.

Ethnicity

• The majority of the 2.692 million people in private households in Toronto were of European origins, according to the 2016 Census data. About 1.289 million (47.88%) claimed European origins, and 1.079 million (40.09%) claimed Asian origins.
• Approximately 345,705 (12.84%), 165,735 (6.16%), and 146,870 (5.46%), and 5,790 (0.22%) claimed North American, Caribbean, African, and Oceania origins, respectively. About 113,815 (4.23%) were from Latin, South, and Central America, and 35,630 (1.32%) were of North America's Aboriginal origins. The percentages do not add up to 100% because some claimed more than one ethnic origin.
• By racial composition, about 50.2% of Torontoians were White in 2016. East Asians, South Asians, Southeast Asians, and West Asians made up 12.7%, 12.3%, 7.0%, 2.0% of Toronto's population, respectively. Blacks, Latin Americans, Arabs, and Aboriginals were 8.5%, 2.8%, 1.1%, and 0.7% of the population, respectively.

Religious Views

• At 54.1%, Christianity was the most popular religion in Toronto, with Catholics, Protestants, Christian Orthodox, and other Christian denominations making up 28%, 12%, 4.3%, and 10% of the population, respectively. Islam (8%), Judaism (4%), Hinduism (5.6%), and Buddhism (3%) were the other common faiths. Almost 25% of Toronto's population did not have any religious affiliation.

Common Occupations

• In 2016, over 345,145 people filled positions in Sales and Services, and 258,870 worked in Business, Administration, and Finance occupations. Occupations in Law, Education, and Community, Social, and Government services employed 186,795 people in Toronto. Management occupations employed 163,965 people in Toronto.

Political Views

• Toronto City and the Greater Toronto Area are strongholds for the Liberal Party of Canada. The city has three federal electoral districts, and they all elected Members of Parliament from the Liberal Party of Canada.

North York

Population and Gender

• The City of Toronto provides North York's profile based on the 2016 Census data. North York had a population of 644,685 people in 2016, but the profile does not provide data on gender distribution. In 2011, however, women and men in North York were distributed 51% to 49%.

People per Household

• In 2016, there were 254,240 households in North York, and an average of 2.51 people per household. By household composition, 29% 30%, 17%, and 24% of households comprised of one, two, three, and four persons, respectively. About 48% of private dwellings were 5+ stories, 27% single-detached, 12% under 5 stories apartments, and 5% row houses.

Children per Household

• By family composition, 48% of families were couples with children, 33% were couples with no child, and 19% were single parents with children. Of "children living at home," 49% were aged 0-14 years, 10% were aged 15-17 years, 22% were ages 18-24 years, and 18% aged over 25 years.

• There were 200,595 "children living at home" and 174,505 families, which means that the number of children per family = 200,595/174,505 = 1.15. Being that there were 254,240 households in North York in 2016 and there were 200,595 "children living at home," the number of children per household would be approximately = 200,595/254,240= 0.79.

• Notably, children in this case included adults who lived with their parents.

Marital Status

• The research team used the statistics for Toronto in the Marital Status section detailed above to calculate a percentage of married people in order to provide a proxy figure for North York. The 1.181 million people aged 15 years and above who were married or living in common law represented 50.6% of people in Toronto in 2016. The remaining 49.4% were unmarried.

Ethnicity

• English was the language by mother tongue for 46% of people in North York in 2016. About 53% of people spoke other languages as their mother tongue. Only 1% spoke French as their mother tongue.
• There were 332,475 immigrants in North York in 2016, which was about 52.1% of the overall population. Approximately 6.4%, 6.0%, 4.1%, 2.4%, 2.2%, and 2.1% immigrated from the Philippines, China, Iran, South Korea, Hong Kong, and India, respectively. About 1.7%, 1.5%, 1.4%, 1.4%, and 23.0% of immigrants came from Italy, Pakistan, Russia, the U.K., and other regions, respectively.

Common Occupations

• In 2016, 22.2% of the population in North York were in Sales and Service occupations. About 19.2% of the employed population were working in Business, Administration, and Finance occupations, and 14.1% were working in occupations in Law, Education, and Community, Social, and Government services. Approximately 11.9%, 9.9%, 7.6%, and 7.1% of the population in North York were in occupations in Management, Applied and Natural Sciences, Transport, Trades, & Equipment Operations, and Health, respectively.

Household Income and Spending

• In 2015, the latest data available, the average annual household income was $119,490 for all households and $56,851 for single-person households. About 18.5%, 12.6%, and 10% of the households in North York earned over $150,000, $60,000 - $79,999, and $80,000 - $99,999 annually, respectively. Approximately 8.5% of the households earned $100,000 - $124,999 annually.

• About 49.5% of renter households spent above 30% of income on shelter, while 28.8% of owner households spent over 30% of their income on shelter. The data by the City of Toronto did not provide any further information on household spending in North York, especially that pertaining to food, transportation, entertainment, and other expenditures.

Political and Religious Views

• There was no data specific to the political and religious views in North York, Toronto. Therefore, the views for Toronto, outlined above, have been assumed since North York is within Toronto and the people are likely to follow similar political and religious affiliations. This would mean that the majority of people in York would be Christians or non-believers supporting the Liberal Party of Canada.

Research Strategy