RuRal Development InstItute

Aboriginal Population

1

July 2014

www.brandonu.ca/rdi/

HigHligHts• In2011,thenumberofManitobaresidentsidentifyingasAboriginalwas195,895.

• Thisrepresents17%ofManitoba’stotalpopulation.Thisshareishigherthaninanyotherprovince,butlowerthaninthenorthernterritories.

• Thelargestgroupthatself-identifiedwasFirstNationswithapopulationof114,230.Withinthisgroup,27%residedintheWinnipegCMAand73%residedinnon-metroareas.

• InManitoba’s4northernCDs,theshareofthepopulationwithanAboriginalidentityrangedfrom51%inCD#21(includesFlinFlonandThePas)to95%inCD#19(includesBerensRiver).

Bollman, Ray D., & Ashton, W. Rural Development institute, Brandon University, Brandon, Manitoba, July, 2014.

WHy ABoRiginAl popUlAtion?

In2011,theAboriginalidentitypopulationinManitobawas196thousand(17%ofManitoba’stotalpopulation).AboriginalshaveahigherbirthrateandtheirshareofManitoba’spopulationisexpectedtoincrease.

TheobjectiveofthisFactsheetistodocumenttheshareofManitoba’sruralpopulationwithanAboriginalIdentity.

The2011NationalHouseholdSurveyusedaseriesofquestionstodeterminetheportionofthepopulationidentifiesasAboriginal.Thedataarenotcomparableovertimeastheindividualsinsomegroups,especiallytheMétis,havebecomemorelikelytoreporttheirMétisheritageinrecentcensusperiods.

FinDings

In2011,theAboriginalidentitypopulationinManitobawas195,895(Table1).Withinmetroareas(i.e.theWinnipegCMA),11%identifiedasAboriginalwhiletheshareinnon-metroareaswas26%.

table 1.

1.‘Aboriginalidentity’referstowhetherthepersonreportedbeinganAboriginalperson,thatis,FirstNations(NorthAmericanIndian),MétisorInuk(Inuit)and/orbeingaRegisteredorTreatyIndian(thatis,registeredundertheIndianActofCanada)and/orbeingamemberofaFirstNationorIndianband.AboriginalpeoplesofCanadaaredefinedintheConstitutionAct,1982,section35(2)asincludingtheIndian,InuitandMétispeoplesofCanada.Aboriginalidentityisderivedfromdatacollectedinthreequestions:Aboriginalgroup(Question18);RegisteredorTreatyIndianstatus(Question20);andMembershipinaFirstNationorIndianband(Question21).InQuestion18,respondentscouldrespond‘Yes,FirstNations(NorthAmericanIndian),’‘Yes,Métis,’‘Yes,Inuk(Inuit)’or‘No,notanAboriginalperson’bycheckingofftheappropriatemark-incircle.InQuestion20,respondentscouldrespond‘No’or‘Yes,StatusIndian(RegisteredorTreaty).’InQuestion21,respondentscouldrespond‘No’or‘Yes,memberofaFirstNation/Indianband’.(Source:StatisticsCanada.(2013)2011NationalHouseholdSurveyDictionary(Ottawa:StatisticsCanada,Catalogueno.99-000)(http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/ref/dict/index-eng.cfm).

RuRal Development InstItute

Bollman, Ray D., & Ashton, W. Rural Development institute, Brandon University, Brandon, Manitoba, July, 2014. 2

InNoMIZareas(i.e.areaswithnoinfluencefromaCMAorCA),theportionofthepopulationidentifyingasAboriginalconstituted54%ofthetotalpopulation.

In2011,114,230AboriginalsstatedFirstNationsastheirsingleAboriginalidentity.Withinthisgroup,27%wereresidingintheWinnipegCMAand73%wereresidinginnon-metroManitoba.

ThesecondlargestgroupwasMétiswitha2011populationof78,830.AmongtheMétis,overone-half(59%)wereresidingintheWinnipegCMA.

ToseewhereAboriginalsareresidingacrossManitoba,wereviewthecensusdivision(CD)ofresidenceofthepopulationidentifyingasAboriginal(Table2).

In2011,thepopulationidentifyingasAboriginalofCD#11(Winnipeg)was72,475andthisrepresented11%ofthepopulationinthisCD.ThisCDiscomprisedoftheCityofWinnipegplustheR.M.ofHeadingly.ThisCDiswhollywithintheWinnipegCMAandisclassifiedasa“metrocensusdivision.”

AroundWinnipegthereare5CDsclassifiedaspartially-non-metroCDsaspartofeachCDisclassifiedwithintheWinnipegCMAandotherpartsareoutsidetheWinnipegCMA.ThepopulationidentifyingasAboriginalintheseCDswas19,060in2011andrepresented12%oftheirpopulation.

InManitoba’snon-metroCDs,thepopulationidentifyingasAboriginalwas104,350,whichrepresented29%ofthetotalpopulationofnon-metroCDs.

Therewere4CDswherethepopulationidentifyingasAboriginalwasoverone-halfofthetotalpopulation:

• 95%inCD#19(includesBerensRiver);• 79%inCD#23(includesChurchill);• 77%inCD#22(includesThompson);and•51%inCD#21(includesFlinFlonandThePas).Therewereanother5non-metroCDswheretheAboriginalidentitypopulationrepresented24%ormoreofthetotalpopulation(Table2).

CoMpARison to CAnADA

TheshareofManitoba’spopulationpopulationidentifyingasAboriginal(17%)ishigherthaninanyotherprovince,butlowerthaninthenorthernterritories(Table3).InSaskatchewan,16%ofthe

populationidentifyingasAboriginal.

Inabsolutenumbers,thepopulationidentifyingasAboriginalislargerinOntario(301thousand),BritishColumbia(232thousand)andAlberta(221thousand).Manitobaranks4thwith196thousandindividualswithanAboriginalIdentity.

InbothManitobaandinNewfoundlandandLabrador,25%ormoreoftheAboriginalIdentitypopulationresidesinruralnorthernregions.

sUMMARy

In2011,thenumberofManitobaresidentsidentifyingasAboriginalwas195,895.Thisrepresented17%ofManitoba’stotalpopulation.

ThelargestgroupwasFirstNationswithapopulationof114,230.Withinthisgroup,27%residedintheWinnipegCMAand73%residedinnon-metroareas.

InManitoba’s4northernCDs,theshareofthepopulationidentifyingasAboriginalrangedfrom51%inCD#21(includesFlinFlonandThePas)to95%inCD#19(includesBerensRiver).

FURtHER REsEARCH QUEstions

• Whateffectdoeschangingresponseratesindifferentareashaveoncensusdata?

Funding for this project was provided by the Manitoba government.

this series of Fact sheets are available for download at http://www.brandonu.ca/rdi/25th/ 3

RuRal Development InstItute

table 2.

Source:StatisticsCanada.NationalHouseholdSurvey,2011

RuRal Development InstItute

4 Bollman, Ray D., & Ashton, W. Rural Development institute, Brandon University, Brandon, Manitoba, July, 2014.

table 3.

Source:StatisticsCanada.NationalHouseholdSurvey,2011