Yellowknife, Whitehorse have more same-sex female couples per capita than any other city in Canada

Recently released data from the 2016 census shows that territorial capitals Yellowknife and Whitehorse have more same-sex female couples per capita than any other city in Canada.

According to the census data, two per cent of all females in couples in Yellowknife are in same-sex relationships, while Whitehorse trails slightly behind at 1.9 per cent. Both totals are more than double the Canadian average, and the highest among all Canadian cities.

Chelsea Thacker is the executive director of the Rainbow Coalition of Yellowknife. Thacker was "really surprised," to hear the statistics. 

"Because Yellowknife is small, and the queer community is smaller, but at the same time, it's kind of cool to hear we made number one."

Thacker, a queer person who moved to Yellowknife two years ago, said although there is still plenty of education and advocacy work to be done, the city is "getting to be a bit more open within the queer community."

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"I've been in Toronto, I've been in Ottawa, I've been in Kingston, all Ontario cities," Thacker said. "And small and large, what I've seen there doesn't compare to the freedom, I guess. Some people in this community really get to be themselves, and it's like: 'you are who you are, and that's how we're going to accept you and take you.

"The non-binary and trans community is huge in this city. And I think that's really great, because a lot more people are feeling more comfortable to identify... and start doing a bit more activism around that."

While the cities topped the list for same-sex female couples, the numbers weren't quite as high for male couples. Just 0.7 per cent of males in couples in both Yellowknife and Whitehorse are in same-sex couples, according to the census.

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Nunavut has highest proportion of common-law unions

Nunavut also topped the list in a surprising statistic: the territory has, by far, the highest percentage of common-law unions in Canada, at 50.3 per cent of all couples identifying as common-law.

Quebec (39.9 per cent), the Northwest Territories (36.6 per cent), and Yukon (31.9 per cent), were the next three provinces and territories on the list.

The average for the rest of the country, minus Quebec and the territories, was just 15.7 per cent.