Photo: Paul Jerry · CC BY 2.0A median age of 36: Brooks is younger than 87% of Canadian towns
Recent arrivals are 67% of immigrants (2011 to 2021), beside 27% across Canada’s towns. The 2021 Census found 5,140 households in Brooks; by July 2025 the population was about 17,537. Just over a fifth of residents are not Canadian citizens. More visible minority residents than in 84% of Canadian towns: 49%.
What stands out about the people of Brooks
Younger than most towns
Line Brooks’s residents up by age and the one in the middle is 36; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 23% are under 15 and 11% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
+3% since 2016: slower than 55% of Canadian towns
The 2021 Census is the source of every figure here unless a date says otherwise. The census counts of 2016 and 2021, the estimate after them, and the change set beside other towns.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025 is 18% higher again. The median across Canada’s towns is +4%, and across Alberta’s towns +1%.
More children under 15 than 94% of Canadian towns: 23%
Age bands of five years, the town’s bars against the typical town’s ticks.
Compared with 19% across Canada’s towns, 11% of residents are 65 or over here. Meanwhile, at 13%, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 is higher than in 84% of Canadian towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Brooks, 36. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 107 men for every 100 women.
Brooks households average 2.9 people, larger than in 87% of Canadian towns
Private households by type and size.
Against Alberta’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
Shared houses stand out: 7.1% of households are unrelated adults living together, more than in 87% of Canadian towns. On the census count, just over a fifth of households are one person living alone. 10% of households are one-parent families, against 8.2% across Canada’s towns.
Common-law partners make up 8.4% in Brooks, less than in 69% of Canadian towns
Residents 15 and over by marital status; the census counts common-law couples separately.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Singles who have never married make up 30% of adults, beside a typical 27%. Across Brooks, 49% of residents 15 and over are married. The comparison figure for common-law partners is 11% across Canada’s towns.
Brooks sits above 68% of Canadian towns for renter households (35%)
Occupied homes by type, by owners and renters, and by when they were built. Prices, rents and shelter costs are on Cost of living.
Type of home
Owners and renters · share of households
When homes were built · share of homes
Newer homes outnumber old: 23% date from 2001 or later, 8.4% from before 1961. Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in nearly three quarters of Canadian towns. On average, 25% of households rent their home across Canada’s towns. By its share of households in single-detached houses (55%), Brooks is below 62% of Canadian towns.
$91,000 a year: where the middle household sits
The census asked about income in 2020: a pandemic year, with CERB and other emergency benefits counted in. Total household income: the median household, and the spread from low to high.
Households by income · share of households
At $91,000, the middle household in Brooks out-earned the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000) by 6%. The middle household across Alberta’s towns has $92,200 before tax. The pandemic’s benefits: 37% of income recipients, against 28% in the typical town.
Brooks sits above 81% of Canadian towns for immigrants (37%)
Immigrants, newcomers and movers.
Immigrants, by continent of birth · share of all residents; the bar runs to 45%
When immigrants arrived · share of immigrants
Citizenship and moving · share of residents
Across Canada’s towns, the share of residents who moved in within the year is 11%; Brooks has 13%. The largest groups of immigrants were born in Africa (43%) and in Asia (41%). As a reference point, 17% of residents are immigrants across Canada’s towns.
A smaller share of residents with no religion than 67% of Canadian towns: 30%
Visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion, as residents answered the census.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Among other religions: Muslim (13%) and Buddhist (2%). Across Canada’s towns, 35% of residents said they have no religion. Indigenous residents are about as common here as across Canada’s towns: 2.4%.
English is the mother tongue of 61%, and 3% speak French as well
Knowledge of the two official languages, first languages, and the language of home.
Can hold a conversation in · share of all residents
Mother tongue · share of all residents
At home, 25% mostly speak another language; 2.9% speak neither English nor French. Brooks has fewer bilingual residents than 94% of Canadian towns, at 3%. 1.2% of residents have French as their mother tongue, about the same as across Canada’s towns.
Only 15% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher in Brooks
From no certificate to a master’s: residents 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
No certificate, diploma or degree is held by 23%; in the typical town the share is 9.5%. For comparison, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
A job for 63% of residents aged 15 and over
The census was taken in May 2021, during the pandemic, so these rates show a labour market still recovering. The census’s labour rates, in brief. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
More people work here than in the typical town: 63%, against 58% across Canada’s towns.
8th lowest median age among 41 towns of 17,043 to 18,055
Median age of the Canadian towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
They run from Bay-Cloverhill, at 29.6, to Greater Napanee, at 50.4. In age, Brooks keeps company with Coventry Hills (35.7), Sylvan Lake (36), McKenzie Towne (37.4) and Malvern West (37.5).
Every nearby town is older than Brooks
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each links to its own page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brooks | 17,537 | — | 36 | 11% | 37% |
| Newell County | 7,846 | 4.9 km | 39.2 | 16% | 11% |
| Duchess | 1,045 | 18.0 km | 36.4 | 11% | 7.6% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The census’s own words. In the census, “visible minority” is the Employment Equity Act’s term for people who are non-white in colour or race and not Indigenous. Like immigrant status, Indigenous identity and religion, which residents reported themselves, it is compared with other towns, never turned into a label.
- Against Alberta’s towns and Canada’s towns. The middle of Alberta’s towns of 2,500 or more comes first, the middle of all Canadian towns second; cities as a whole and First Nations reserves stay out, and percentiles are within Canada.
- What these tables don’t give. Not in the Census Profile: unpaid care, cars, internet access, and how each age group has changed since 2016. We also chart no ethnic origins besides visible minority and Indigenous identity.
Questions about Brooks’s residents
What is the population of Brooks?
Statistics Canada estimates 17,537 residents for July 2025; the 2021 Census counted 14,924 in Brooks, 3% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Brooks?
36 is the median age, younger than 87% of Canadian towns. Under 15: 23%. 65 and over: 11%.
Is Brooks bilingual?
Both official languages are spoken by 3% of residents, against a typical 7.5% across Canada’s towns. 94% speak only English and 0.3% only French; 1.2% grew up with French.
How diverse is Brooks?
Immigrants make up 37% of residents, against 17% across Canada’s towns. 49% are members of a visible minority, and 2.4% are First Nations, Métis or Inuit.
What religion are people in Brooks?
Christian: 55%. No religion: 30%. Another religion: 16%.
Is Brooks good for families?
Across Canada’s towns, a typical 16% of residents are under 15; here, 23%. 52% of households are couple families and 10% one-parent families. Schools near Brooks are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Brooks?
$91,000 before tax, in 2020: the middle household’s income in Brooks (Canada’s towns: $86,000).
Sources: Statistics Canada, Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population · Statistics Canada, population estimates for 1 July 2025 (table 17-10-0155). Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).