Same-sex marriages are increasing, but marriage remains rare
Posted September 17, 2025 2:35 pm.
Twenty years after being legalized in Quebec in 2004, same-sex marriages peaked in 2024 at 743, but these marriages still represent only three per cent of all marriages, a proportion that has remained relatively stable for several years.
In its Bulletin on Marriages in 2024 published Wednesday, the Institut de la statistique du Québec (ISQ) highlights that marriages of all types remain rare in Quebec.
Overall, just over 23,000 weddings were celebrated in Quebec last year, a figure that falls within the range of 22,000 to 23,500 observed since the early 2000s. However, this represents a significant drop compared to the early 1970s, when this figure exceeded 50,000 weddings per year.
Unsurprisingly, there was a significant drop in the number of weddings in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.
However, the Bulletin notes that while “a larger increase might have been expected in 2022, or even 2023, if there had been a complete recovery in the number of weddings that did not take place in 2020 and 2021,” this did not happen, as 2022 and 2023 saw a significant return to pre-pandemic levels.
“If there was a recovery, it was partial, or fewer new wedding plans materialized,” the authors of the Bulletin conclude.
As for same-sex marriages, the number of couples consisting of two women who married last year, at 382, was slightly higher than that of men, which stood at 361, a trend observed since 2018.
In the six years following the legalization of same-sex marriages, from 2004 to 2010, the opposite was true, with male couples significantly outnumbering those consisting of two women.
Marrying at an older age, especially in the summer
It’s no surprise that summer is the preferred time of year for newlyweds. More than half (57 per cent) of weddings in 2024 took place between June and September.
The marriage rate—the propensity of single people to marry—remains very low in Quebec. The ISQ reports that “if marriage rates remained constant at 2024 levels, only 25 per cent of men and 29 per cent of women would marry at least once before their 50th birthday.”
The average age of brides and grooms decreased slightly in 2024, but remains much higher than in 1971. At that time, men married at an average age of 25.6 and women at 23.5. Today, marriage occurs at an average age of 33.4 for men and 31.9 for women.
Religious marriages on the decline
Ministers of religion remain the leading wedding officiants, but they are increasingly in demand for religious weddings.
While they celebrated approximately 70 per cent of civil marriages in 2002, this proportion has halved to 35 per cent in 2024.
Designated officiants, as defined by law and which may include relatives, have seen their popularity increase since 2002, reaching just under 30 per cent of civil marriages. Notaries and court clerks, for their part, celebrate around 18 per cent of marriages each.
Finally, civil unions remain very marginal. Unlike common-law or de facto unions, civil unions have a legal scope equivalent to that of marriage.
The rights and obligations arising from these two types of official unions are the same. However, only 105 civil unions were registered in 2024, representing 0.5 per cent of all marital unions.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
