Methodology

How the calculator gets its numbers

The app estimates people matching selected traits, not literal dating intent, compatibility, or mutual enthusiasm.

Observed

An Observed step means the selected share comes directly from an official published cross-tab that already contains the relevant conditioning dimensions.

Estimated

An Estimated step means the exact combination is not published together, so the app blends or combines the closest official distributions available. That can overstate or understate the true count. Drinking-habit filters usually live here because the alcohol-use data are survey-based and not census-grade cross-tabs.

Assumption

An Assumption step is a user-controlled adjustment, such as attractiveness or another personal preference slider. These are not official census-backed traits in the current app and are labelled accordingly.

Filter pipeline

1Start with the latest official population estimate for the selected geography.
2Apply age and sex using direct census distributions where possible.
3Apply population group using official census categories with match-any-selected-category union logic when more than one is selected.
4Apply relationship-status proxy, education, income, and language using the best compatible public tables.
5Estimate drinking habits from Canadian health-survey alcohol-use distributions, with match-any-selected-option logic when more than one category is selected.
6Estimate height by merging acceptable selected ranges and interpolating across official Canadian height percentiles.
7Apply attractiveness only as a user assumption, never as a census-backed national fact.
8Mark each step with its quality level and explain when conditioning dimensions are missing.
9Interpret the final number as people matching selected traits, not literal dating intent or compatibility.
10Clamp age ranges to 18+ so the calculator stays within its supported range across the UI and shared states.

Why exact combinations are not always possible

Public data tables are finite. Statistics Canada publishes many useful cross-tabs, but not every combination of geography, age, sex, marital status, education, income, and language in one place.

That means the app sometimes has to condition on the best compatible dimensions available and openly label the remainder as estimated. The alternative would be false precision, which is more misleading than useful.

If you want to inspect the data tables behind the calculator, the sources page is the next stop.

What the result means

The final output is best read as an estimate of people matching the selected published traits, not a count of actual partners, app matches, or future soulmates.

Why methodology is not buried

A result without its data quality context is only half a product. This app keeps the trust labels and source notes close to the calculation on purpose.

Getting the calculator ready

Loading the latest population snapshot and the active filter set.