Canada’s fertility rate falls to record low as more women delay or forgo motherhood
Statistics Canada reports a 2024 total fertility rate of 1.25, placing Canada among ‘ultra-low fertility’ countries. Education, work, delayed motherhood and cultural factors are key drivers.
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By Torontoer Staff
Canada’s total fertility rate hit a record low of 1.25 children per woman in 2024, placing the country in the “ultra-low fertility” category, Statistics Canada said. The decline, which began around 2009, reflects changing social, economic and cultural patterns that are reshaping family formation.
The new findings come from the 2024 Survey on Family Transitions and show that the drop in births is driven both by fewer women having children and by later timing of parenthood. The average age of mothers at the birth of their first child reached an all-time high of 31.8 years in 2024.
What the survey found
Statistics Canada attributes the long-term decline in fertility to several broad shifts: higher educational attainment, greater participation of women in the labour market, changing social norms and more widespread contraception. Those forces have diversified life paths and childbearing decisions, the agency said.
Increased educational levels, greater participation in the labour market, changing social norms and the widespread use of contraception have contributed to diversifying life paths, notably in terms of childbearing.
Statistics Canada
- Total fertility rate (TFR) for Canada in 2024: 1.25 children per woman.
- Average age at first birth: 31.8 years, an all-time high.
- Proportion of women aged 20–49 without children who want at least one child: 51.7%.
- Desired family size among childless women who want children: 2.2 children on average.
Who is delaying or forgoing parenthood
The likelihood of being childless varies by age, education, employment, marital status, religion, immigration status and cultural background. Younger women are more likely to express a desire for children than older women who remain childless.
About two in three women in their 20s without children said they would like to have them. That proportion falls to four in 10 for women in their 30s and to about one in 10 for women in their 40s. Across ages, childless women who want children say they would like about 2.2 children on average.
Education and employment are linked to higher rates of childlessness. The survey found a larger share of university graduates and employed women without children. Motherhood is also more common among married women and those who practise a religion.
Immigration and cultural background shape childbearing patterns. In 2024, more than half of Canadian-born women aged 20 to 49 had no children, compared with 44.6 per cent of landed immigrant women, reflecting an increasing contribution of foreign-born mothers to Canadian births.
Statistical differences appear across racialized groups. Around six in 10 West Asian and Chinese women in Canada had no children, while about 40 per cent of Latin American and Arab women were childless. The agency said these differences point to cultural and socioeconomic influences on fertility decisions.
This strong decline in fertility is due not only to a decreased birth rate, but also to an increase in the number of women who do not have children either by choice, by circumstance or because they are delaying motherhood.
Statistics Canada
Where Canada stands internationally
With a TFR of 1.25, Canada sits alongside several other high-income countries with very low fertility. Based on 2024 data, Switzerland reported 1.29, Luxembourg 1.25, Finland 1.25, Italy 1.18, Japan 1.15, Singapore 0.97 and South Korea 0.75.
Policy implications
Statistics Canada emphasises that fertility reflects complex socioeconomic and cultural factors, not only personal preference. The agency flagged the importance of policies that help people balance careers and parenthood, noting that support for childcare, parental leave and flexible work arrangements can influence family decisions.
These results show that fertility does not depend solely on individual preferences, it also reflects complex socioeconomic and cultural factors, particularly for women under the age of 40 years. They also show the importance of policies that encourage balancing career and parenthood.
Statistics Canada
Methodology
The findings come from the 2024 Survey on Family Transitions, conducted from April 22 to September 20, 2024. The cross-sectional survey sampled 23,941 respondents aged 20 to 79 living in Canadian provinces. It excludes residents of the territories, First Nations reserves and full-time residents of institutions.
The survey is the seventh edition of the family survey under the General Social Statistics Program and provides a snapshot of how education, work, immigration and cultural factors intersect with childbearing decisions across age groups.
The results underscore that while many Canadians still want children, shifting life trajectories and structural factors are producing lower birth rates and later parenthood. That combination has placed Canada among countries with ultra-low fertility and presents policy questions about supporting families and balancing work and caregiving.
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