The Aboriginal population is, on average, much younger than the non-Aboriginal population: the average age of Aboriginal people is 25, compared to 35 for the general population of Canada. This is because Aboriginal families have many children. On the reserves, more than half of Aboriginal people are under 25 years old.
Because there are many births, the Aboriginal population is growing twice as fast as the rest of the Canadian population. So even though at this time Aboriginal people make up about 4% of the Canadian population, we can expect that in the next few years that number will increase.
Nearly half of Aboriginal children live with both parents, while for non-Aboriginal children it is more than three-quarters. About 4% of Aboriginal children live with grandparents or foster families because their parents have health or drinking problems, or simply cannot afford to care for their children. Communities work to ensure that children are not separated from their parents for too long.