Facts and Statistics: Sexual Health and Canadian Youth
Frequency of Sexual Intercourse
Most studies that measure teenage sexual behaviour simply ask young people if they have "ever had" sexual intercourse.
Those who respond yes are typically classified as "sexually active" regardless of how frequently they have engaged in the behaviour. One of the few Canadian studies to ask sexually active youth about their frequency of intercourse was the Canadian Youth, Sexual Health and HIV/AIDS Study (Boyce et al., 2003).
As indicated in the table below, over 50% of sexually active students in Grade 9 responded that they have had intercourse once or "a few times", and over 40% of sexually active students in Grade 11 responded that they have had intercourse once or "a few times".
These data would suggest that, for example, among all Grade 9 females (i.e., those who have had sexual intercourse and those who have not), 7.0% engage in sexual intercourse with a frequency that the students self-defined as "often".
The corresponding percentages are 8.9% for Grade 9 males, 27.1% for Grade 11 females, and 19.2% for Grade 11 males. These figures should be interpreted cautiously as the actual frequency of intercourse that an individual respondent defined as "often" almost certainly varied from one individual to another.
Nevertheless, these data suggest that while most Canadian young people have their first sexual intercourse experience during their teenage years, only a minority of sexually active adolescents in their early (i.e., Grade 9) and middle teens (i.e., Grade 11) have intercourse on a regular basis.
Frequency of Sexual Intercourse Among Canadian Youth Who Have Had Intercourse One or More Times
| Once | A Few Times | Often | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 9 | |||
| Males | 30% | 32% | 39% |
| Females | 29% | 34% | 37% |
| Grade 11 | |||
| Males | 19% | 33% | 48% |
| Females | 13% | 28% | 59% |
Source: Boyce et al. (2003). Canadian Youth, Sexual Health and HIV/AIDS Study
