Skip to content | Skip to institutional links

Common menu bar links

Institutional links

Media room
The Daily
National Household Survey
- For media: Concept Briefs
Census

Page content follows

Valentine’s Day… by the numbers

2013

Image: Red heart pierced by Cupid’s arrow.

February 14th is Valentine's Day!

Named for Saint Valentine, this is a day when people express their love by sending cards, exchanging gifts of chocolate, roses or personal items, and even sharing romantic dinners by candlelight.

Here are some facts on assorted topics related to Valentine’s Day.

(Last updated: January 30, 2013)

Call me, maybe?

11,784,855 — The total number of persons not living in a couple (including never-married, divorced, separated or widowed) aged 15 and over in Canada in 2011.

Already taken!

16,084,490 — The total number of persons living in a couple (including married spouses and common-law partners) aged 15 and over in Canada in 2011.

Source: 2011 Census, Census Profile.

Will you marry me?

7,861,860 — The number of couples in Canada in 2011. Of these couples, 6.3 million were married couples and 1.6 million were common-law unions.

Source: 2011 Census, Portrait of Families and Living Arrangements in Canada; Table 1: Distribution (number and percentage) and percentage change of census families by family structure, Canada, 2001 to 2011.

A special meal

(“Restaurants” includes full service restaurants, fast-food outlets, cafeterias, but also refreshments stands, snack bars, vending machines, mobile canteens, caterers and chip wagons. Includes tips. Does not include expenses for alcoholic beverages.)

$2,207 — The average annual spending on food purchased from restaurants by Canadian households in 2011.

Source: CANSIM, table 203-0021 (Survey of Household Spending).

A special gift

$3.2 billion — The value of jewellery and watches sold at retailers in Canada in 2011.

$2.4 billion — The value of cosmetics and fragrances sold at retailers in Canada in 2011.

$1.6 billion — The value of women's lingerie, sleepwear and intimates sold at retailers in Canada in 2011.

$634.6 million — The value of men's underwear, sleepwear and hosiery sold at retailers in Canada in 2011.

$1.2 billion — The value of giftware, novelties and souvenirs sold at retailers in Canada in 2011.

$2.9 billion — The value of stationery, office supplies, cards, gift wrap and party supplies sold at retailers in Canada in 2011.

Source: CANSIM, table 080-0022 (Quarterly Retail Commodity Survey).

A glass of wine

470.0 million litres — The volume of wine sold at wineries, liquor stores and agencies in Canada in 2010/2011, a 3.0% increase from 2009/2010. The growth in sales of imported wine outpaced the growth of domestic wine sales.

$6.1 billion — The value of all wines sold by wineries, liquor stores and agencies in Canada in 2010/2011, up 5.0% from the previous year.

181% — The growth in the value of sales of red wine in Canada between 2000 and 2011. Dollar sales of white wine rose at a much slower pace (+66%) during the same period.

76% — The proportion of red wines sold in Canada in 2010/2011 that were imported.

62% — The proportion of white wines sold in Canada in 2010/2011 that were imported.

Source: “Control and sale of alcoholic beverages,” The Daily, Monday, March 26, 2012.

A glass of sparkling wine

20.7 million litres — The volume of sparkling wines sold in Canada in 2010/2011, up 4.5% from 2009/2010. This represents the equivalent of some 10 million 750 ml bottles of domestic sparkling wines and nearly 18 million 750 ml bottles of imported bubbly in 2010/2011.

$340.0 million — The value of sales of sparkling wines in Canada in 2010/2011, down 0.3% from 2009/2010. Canadian products made up nearly a quarter of this amount.

Source: CANSIM, table 183-0015 (Control and Sale of Alcoholic Beverages in Canada).

A box of chocolates

217 — The number of manufacturers of chocolate and confectioneries from cocoa beans and from purchased chocolate in Canada in 2010.

$1.53 billion — The total revenue of manufacturers of chocolate and confectioneries from cacoa beans in Canada in 2010. (Data for the revenues of companies that manufacture confectionaries using purchased chocolate are suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act.)

Source: CANSIM, table 301-0006 (Annual Survey of Manufactures and Logging).

$110 million — The value of sales of chocolate and confectioneries manufactured from cocoa beans in Canada in February 2012. (Data for the revenues of companies that manufacture confectionaries using purchased chocolate are suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act.)

Source: CANSIM, table 304-0014 (Monthly Survey of Manufacturing).

A bouquet of roses

10.5 million — The number of stems of roses produced in Canada in 2011.

Source: CANSIM, table 001-0049 (Annual Greenhouse, Sod and Nursery Survey).

A romantic book

Romance novels explore human love relationships. Poetry is often used to convey feelings of love.

$2.0 billion — The operating revenues for the book publishing industry in Canada in 2010.

Source: Book publishers, 2010.

A love song

Say it with music!

$789.7 million — The operating revenues for the sound recording industry in Canada in 2011.

Source: Sound recording and music publishing, 2011.

It’s a date!

Going to a movie, a live performance at a theatre or even to a hockey game are great ideas for a date. Some couples enjoy sports activities together!

See Performing arts, Motion picture theatres, Spectator sports, event promoters, artists and related industries and Amusement and recreation for related information and data.

A place for love

You may or may not find the love of your life in these selected places, but you might find some interesting census data using the Census profile:

Happy Valentine’s Day from Statistics Canada!

For more information about this page or for help finding more data, contact Media Relations.

See features on many other subjects in Previous By the numbers.