Please note: There is no Owl tomorrow as ATB is closed to observe the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. You can find more information here.

Today’s Owl highlights some of the recently released statistics on the size and location of Canada’s Indigenous* population.

In 2021, 1.8 million Indigenous people were enumerated during the census. This works out to about 5% of the total population of Canada.

Over 284,000 Indigenous people were living in Alberta in 2021 or about 7% of the provincial population and 16% of all Indigenous people living in Canada.

Ontario is home to the largest number of Indigenous people in Canada at over 406,000, but Manitoba leads the provinces in terms of the proportion of its population who identify as Indigenous at 18%.

Among the three northern territories, Nunavut has both the largest Indigenous population (31,385) and the largest proportion of its total population identifying as Indigenous (86%).

Within Alberta, the Edmonton Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) has the largest Indigenous population of any city in the province at 87,600 or 31% of the Indigenous population in Alberta. Calgary is second, with 48,625 residents who identify as Indigenous (17% of the the Indigenous population of Alberta.

*According to Statistics Canada, the term "Indigenous peoples" refers to three groups—First Nations people, Métis and Inuit—who are recognized in the Constitution Act.

Answer to the previous trivia question: Quebec is the province with the largest freshwater area at 176,928 square kilometres.

Today’s trivia question: Which province or territory goes the farthest north?