Is marriage becoming less important to Canadians?

Common-law relationships are on the rise in Canada.

That's according to data tracking changes in families and households from the 2011 census released today by Statistics Canada.

It reveals an interesting snapshot of the way Canadians live -- and highlights a long-term decline in the number of married couples. Although the data revealed an uptick in the number of married couples between 2006 and 2011, overall the number has dropped by 132,715 over the last decade.

Meanwhile, the number of common-law couples has risen by almost 14 per cent between 2006 and 2011.  The number of common-law couples is highest in Nunavut (32.7 per cent) and in Quebec (31.5 per cent).

For the first time, common-law couples (16.7 per cent) outnumbered single-parent families (16.3 per cent).

And also for the first time, one-person households (27.6 per cent) outnumber households with kids (26.5 per cent).

The number of gay couples is also increasing, by about 464 from 2006. Of those, half of them are married, the other half are common low.

With an increase in the number of common law relationships and single-person households, are Canadians collectively signaling that traditional marriage is becoming less important to them? What do you think? Have you or do you hope to get married?