The number of same-sex couples saying ``Yes to the dress'' and ``I do'' has jumped considerably since 2006, but a substantial portion of them still prefer common-law arrangements.
   
According to the latest census data, there were 64-thousand 575 same-sex couples in Canada _ a 42.4 per cent increase in five years.
   
The number of same-sex partners living in common law relationships is roughly double those who've taken the walk down the aisle.
   
But Statistics Canada says the number of gay and lesbian couples who've chosen to wed has tripled since the last census _ jumping by 181 per cent.
   
The data reflects the first five years after the Martingovernment's 2005 decision to legalize same-sex marriage, at the time making Canada only the third country in the world to pass such legislation.
   
Eight other countries and some U.S. states have since enacted similar laws.
   
The census also shows the growth of same-sex relationships outpacing opposite sex couples in both marriage and common law categories.
   
Same-sex couples are concentrated in major urban areas, tend more often to be young, and a slight majority of the couples involve men.
   
Rod Beaujot, a demographer at Western University in London, Ontario, says the tide of same-sex marriages could ebb once the novelty wears off.
   
The head of a group of family members and friends of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people suggests that the favouring of common-law relationships over marriage reflects the fact for years the community learned to live without marriage.