The Canadian Press
Morgan Lowrie
MONTREAL–In a 37-year relationship that has seen them have three children together, Helene Gauvin and her partner, Andre Jauvin, have never formally tied the knot.
While they’ve talked about getting married from time to time, they’ve always decided they’re too busy or would rather spend their money on a great vacation.
“Emotionally, I don’t need it, legally neither,” Gauvin, 58, said in an interview.
“It wouldn’t bring anything to my life that I don’t already have.”
New numbers on families, households, and marital status from the 2016 census released yesterday by Statistics Canada show that more and more couples are reaching similar conclusions and seeing no reason to wed.
According to Nora Spinks of the Vanier Institute of the Family, the decline in marriage largely is because the factors that traditionally pushed couples to marry are less and less present.
Those factors included traditional religious beliefs, a societal disapproval of sex outside marriage, and financial necessity, all of which have eroded over time.
Furthermore, many adults now in their late 20s and early 30s–prime marriage age–experienced their own parents’ separation during the 1980s and 1990s when divorce rates were high, Spinks noted.
But just because people aren’t rushing down the aisle doesn’t mean they aren’t committing to each other, she said.
“We should not confuse those numbers to mean people are not forming long-term, committed relationships,” Spinks stressed in a phone interview.
And couples who do want to marry are choosing to do so at an older age.
Data released in Quebec last month revealed the average age of a first marriage for a man in the province in 2016 was 33.4 years and 31.9 for women–a rise of 7.8 years for men and 8.5 for women since 1971.
Across Canada, meanwhile, the proportion of young adults aged 25-29 who were never married has been steadily rising.
Katayoun Khatami, a Montreal-based wedding and event planner, said most of her clients are in their late 20s or early 30s, have established careers, and have already lived together.
She says most of them eschew the traditional church wedding, choosing instead to celebrate their commitment with a personalized, non-religious celebration with family and friends.
“They just want a day to have the people they love gathered around them,” she noted.
As for Gauvin, she said none of her children, aged 35, 27, and 25, has chosen to marry, either–at least so far.
She said she’ll be equally supportive whether they choose to or not.
