8 Billion Lives
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Born in Canada

About 1 in 370 people born in 2023 started life in Canada. A boy can expect to live 80 years and a girl 85, up from 66 and 71 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and nearly everyone has basic drinking water.

1 in 370
odds of being born here
356,700 births · Ranked 66th of 230
80 / 85
years of life, boys / girls
Was 66 / 71 in 1950
$27,410
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 34th of 203 · extrapolated
83%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 14 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 49 in every 1,000 births to 4.9.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

0255075100195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
0204060195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth80.4 years for boys, 84.8 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 54.9 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year312,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people2.8World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles92%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.1%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year6 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 3.4 children on average in 1950. Now it is 1.4, below the 2.1 it takes to keep a population steady.

Children per woman
01234195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman1.35UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth31.4 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 40 and the poorest fifth 8.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2022
8%Poorest fifth
13%Second
17%Middle
23%Fourth
40%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $27,410 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth40% / 8% (2022)World Bank PIP
Unemployment5.4% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises3.9% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person-0.8% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming1% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed13% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment104% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Toronto, with 2.8 million people.

83%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
98%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Toronto2.8 million
Montréal1.8 million
Calgary1.3 million
Ottawa1.0 million
Edmonton1.0 million
Languages
Share of people who can use each
English87%
French29%
Spanish3%
Chinese3%
Punjabi3%
English, French is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Ontario13.4 million
Quebec7.3 million
British Columbia4.3 million
Alberta3.2 million
Manitoba814,295
Nova Scotia787,673
Saskatchewan613,924
New Brunswick353,369
Newfoundland and Labrador202,443
Prince Edward Island38,809

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

Large cities

Sourced: GeoNames Cities with a page: a million people or more.

All 12 regions
  • Ontario13.4 million
  • Quebec7.3 million
  • British Columbia4.3 million
  • Alberta3.2 million
  • Manitoba814,295
  • Nova Scotia787,673
  • Saskatchewan613,924
  • New Brunswick353,369
  • Newfoundland and Labrador202,443
  • Prince Edward Island38,809
  • Yukon28,201
  • Northwest Territories20,340

People on the move

About 3.4% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are United States, United Kingdom, Australia.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
United States950,387
United Kingdom81,845
Australia57,190
Residents born abroad22.2% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 3.4% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostUnited States (950,387), United Kingdom (81,845), Australia (57,190)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $834.0 million a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

100% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 47%.

100%
of older people receive a pension (2022)
47%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2022)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Reported COVID-19 deaths, 2020 to 202455,613Our World in Data, from WHO
Significant earthquakes recorded since 19501NOAA NCEI
Hurricane-strength storms since 198013NOAA IBTrACS
Deaths in organized violence27 between 1998 and 1998UCDP

Now live it.

Born in Canada, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in Canada

Elsewhere in

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How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences