Intertribal Life Newspaper -

According to Canada's 2016 Census, the indigenous population of the country is growing at four times the rate of the rest of the population.

Nearly 1.7 million people identified as Aboriginal, which is a 4.9 percent share of the total population and a 42.5 percent increase since 2006, a growth rate more than four times that of their non-Indigenous counterparts.

Statistics Canada says the spike is a result of natural growth-increased life expectancy and a high fertility rate-as well as noting that indigenous people appear to be more willing than before to identify themselves as either First Nations, Metis or Inuit.

Those claiming Metis heritage are behind the biggest chunk of growth, numbering 587,545 last year, an increase of 51.2 percent since 2006, followed by First Nations at 977,230 people, a 39.3 percent spike, and 65,025 Inuit, an increase of 29.1 percent.

The Census also released other facts:

• Canada's Aboriginal population is young, an average of about 32 years old, compared to about 41 for non-Aboriginals.

• 7.3 percent of indigenous people were 65 or older in 2016, compared with 4.8 percent in 2006.

• The median personal income for Aboriginal people is $25,526, compared with $34,604 for the rest of the country.

• Nearly 25% of indigenous people live below Canada's poverty threshold.

"Sometimes it could be in specific provinces, where more and more people are emphasizing the importance of reporting ourselves as Aboriginal Peoples," said Jean-Pierre Corbet, the assistant director of the agency's social and Aboriginal division.

"Some people might discover that they have ancestries so they identify themselves as being a member of the Aboriginal population."