Solo Living in Canada

"Alberta has a relatively young population within Canada. It's one of the few places where there are still more children in the population than seniors. That's a big factor behind why Alberta has a relatively low share of people living alone."
"It's been a very, very long-term trend over the last 100 years or so. Again, most of it relating to shifts in the population becoming older. But there's also been a lot of different societal trends and evolution that have contributed [to one-person households]."
"Now in more recent years, [with] the advent of social media, it's easier for people to live alone, but maintain contact with the outside world easily."
"Things like improvements in life expectancy, that's meant more people living alone in their senior ages; things like introduction of no-fault divorce has led to more people living alone following a separation or divorce."
Nora Galbraith, senior analyst, Statistics Canada

"Living alone or living in households with more than one person, I don't think that's really the issue. There are people who will feel lonely in a crowd."
"Do we design them [municipalities] to encourage people to talk to each other [or] do we design neighbourhoods so people could drive right into their front garage and walk right into their house?"
"To me, the easier answer out of this for any individual is to find an opportunity to volunteer, be of service to your community. And that'll not only have you bumping into other people, it will also get you out of your loneliness."
Scott McKeen, Edmonton councillor

 “Being alone does not always equate to loneliness. Solitude can be about doing things that are best done alone such as thinking, reading, planning, writing and creating."

“If this goes on [depression] for a long time, they can become desperate and, then, hopeless,” says "When they [depressed people] compare themselves to others, they feel inferior and worthless. Part of the problem with loneliness in our society is that it is stigmatized so people don’t go around telling others they feel lonely."
"We have found that loneliness can predict morbidity, illnesses and mortality." 
"If we are aware of it [loneliness], that’s the first step. The second step is understanding the reason why someone is lonely. Is it because I live in a specific place? Is it because I come across as too aggressive? Is it because I mistreat people? Some people are lonely since childhood, and it’s intertwined in their personality."
"They’re temporary replacements [Facebook, Instagram, Twitter] and cannot replace the human touch. For some people, it can feel like since they have 10,000 ‘likes,’ they must be very popular. But when they need someone to relate to, then they may feel the loneliness even deeper than if they didn’t have Instagram and all those things. So, when they need a hug or someone to go out walking with, that’s when they realize people are electronically available, but that’s it."
Ami Rokach, clinical psychologist, York University, Toronto

Statistics Canada released its latest report a week ago, revealing that there are more people in Canada living alone than ever before. The one-person dwelling is fast becoming the most common configuration of the Canadian household. The number of Canadians living alone amounts to close to four million out of a population of close to 37-million; a doubling of the 1981 number, according to the General Social Survey [Families] 2017 and the 2016 Census. Those living alone now make up 28 percent of countrywide households.

Alberta stands out as the province having the lowest share of one-person households at 24 percent. Couple households with children remain dominant on the Alberta landscape, with 29.4 percent of the population. Quebec has the highest percentage of one-person households with 33.3 percent, followed by the Yukon with 32.2 percent, Nova Scotia with 29.5 percent, and British Columbia with 28.8 percent. The Province of Ontario stands at 25.9 percent one-person households.

Statistics Canada's Nora Galbraith points out, that the one critical factor that accounts for how many people might live alone in a region is the age of the population. Alberta, for example, has one of the lowest rates of seniors, the very demographic most likely to live alone, which can be that key factor in accounting for their lower rate of one-person households and individuals living on their own.

The report suggests that 60 percent of Canadians between the ages of 20 to 34 living alone not in a couple relationship in 2017 intend at some point in their lives to marry or remarry as the case may be. Over 70 percent of that demographic claim they may eventually live in a common-law relationship. Gender as a determining factor for living alone has been ruled out, with men and women equally likely across Canada to live alone.

Partially as a result of longer life expectancy resulting in proportionately fewer senior women living alone as widows, the number of men living alone -- particularly within the senior grouping -- has increased, although women living alone were almost twice as likely to be seniors, points out the report. The country has become more urban and as a result a surge in the number of high rise apartments and condominiums has taken place, geared toward single-person dwellings.

"Our relationships help provide a sense of meaning and purpose in life. And that can translate to better self-care as well as less risk-taking. [Social isolation contributes as strongly to mortality as does smoking 15 cigarettes a day]."
"We tend to assume that this is an issue that may be specific to older adults or the elderly, and while of course, that population is important to consider, it’s not isolated to that group."
"When we look across the data, this loneliness] affects both men and women. We don’t see any effect in terms of it being stronger in older age and in fact, we have some evidence to suggest that it may be stronger in those under 65."

Julianne Holt-Lunstad, professor of psychology and neuroscience, Brigham Young University