Prince Edward Islanders still embracing marriage, relatively speaking

Island couples are more likely to be married, rather than live in common-law relationships, than most Canadians, according to data from the 2016 census released Wednesday.

Only Ontario couples are less likely to live common law, the census shows.

The census found 15.3 per cent of Island couples were living common law, while 21.3 per cent of Canadian couples were. Only 14.4 per cent of Ontario couples were living common law.

P.E.I. traditionally has low rates of common law unions. In 1981 the rate was about half the national average.

That being said, common-law unions are far more common than they were 35 years ago, when the rate on P.E.I. was just 3.2 per cent.

Few multigenerational households

The census data also suggests that once Island couples do get married, they are more likely to strike out on their own.

Just 1.7 per cent of P.E.I. households were multi-generational, compared with 2.9 per cent nationally.

Only Quebec had a lower rate, at 1.4 per cent.

The census also gathered information on the number of one-person households and couples without children. For those types of households P.E.I. trended closer to the national average.

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