Canada is at the forefront of global efforts to end child marriage abroad. While much research has focused on developing countries, in wealthier nations like Canada, child marriage practices are overlooked and understudied. Using data from vital statistics agencies and recent censuses, the researchers found that child marriage remains in practice from coast to coast, with the highest estimates of formal marriage found in Alberta (0.03%) and Manitoba (0.04%), and the highest estimates of any type of child marriage (formal or common-law) in Saskatchewan (0.5%) and the territories (1.7%). This gendered patterning is consistent with child marriage practices observed across the globe, according to the researchers. The next steps will be to examine the mental health consequences of child marriage in Canada and to investigate motivations for the practice.
