A higher share of residents with no religion than 83% of Canadian towns, at 48%
Here 15% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, where the figure across Canada’s towns is 11%. Thorncliffe counted 15,570 residents and 6,620 households at the 2021 Census. For Thorncliffe, the census puts renter households at 40%. Few places have as many residents without Canadian citizenship: 10% here, more than in just over two thirds of Canadian towns.
Thorncliffe is younger than 60% of Canadian towns: a median age of 40.5
The 2021 Census is the source of every figure here unless a date says otherwise. Age bands of five years, the town’s bars against the typical town’s ticks.
The biggest five-year age group is 35–39, with 8.1% of residents. Residents aged 65 and over are rarer here than in 61% of Canadian towns. What’s more, across Canada’s towns, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 is 11%; Thorncliffe has 10%.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Thorncliffe, 40.5. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split.
A higher share of one-person households than 65% of Canadian towns, at 31%
Private households by type and size.
Against Alberta’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
Households in Thorncliffe hold 2.4 people on average (Canada’s towns: 2.4). One-parent families are more common here than in 73% of Canadian towns. As a yardstick, 27% of households are one person living alone across Canada’s towns.
42% of residents 15 and over are married, fewer than in 64% of Canadian towns
Residents 15 and over by marital status; the census counts common-law couples separately.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
31% of adults have never married and don’t live common-law (typical: 27%). The usual figure: 46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns. The share of common-law partners stands at 10%.
Households in single-detached houses: 50%, a lower share than 68% of Canadian towns
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
Households in buildings of five or more storeys: 2%, above 65% of Canadian towns. The wider picture: 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns. 27% of homes were built before 1961 and 2.2% in 2001 or later.
$82,500 a year: where the middle household sits
Census incomes cover 2020, when emergency benefits like CERB lifted many households’ totals. Total household income: the median household, and the spread from low to high.
Households by income · share of households
Half of Thorncliffe’s households had a total income above $82,500 and half below, close to the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). The provincial yardstick is $92,200, the median across Alberta’s towns. COVID-19 benefits went to 33% of residents with an income (typical: 28%).
Thorncliffe: 26% of residents are immigrants, above 65% of Canadian towns
Immigrants, newcomers and movers.
Immigrants, by continent of birth · share of all residents; the bar runs to 30%
When immigrants arrived · share of immigrants
Citizenship and moving · share of residents
Immigrants here were most often born in Asia (48%), then in Africa (20%). Set beside that, 17% of residents are immigrants across Canada’s towns. Recent arrivals are 37% of immigrants (2011 to 2021), beside 27% across Canada’s towns.
Visible minority residents make up 30% in Thorncliffe, more than in 68% of Canadian towns
Visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion, as residents answered the census.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
With Indigenous residents at 4.3%, Thorncliffe is ahead of 65% of Canadian towns on that count. Among other religions: Muslim (4.2%). Visible minority residents make up 15% across Canada’s towns.
English is the mother tongue of 73%, and 6.6% 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, 13% mostly speak another language; 2.6% speak neither English nor French. On residents whose mother tongue is French, 1.4% here is much the same as across Canada’s towns.
Thorncliffe ranks above 58% of Canadian towns on degree holders aged 25 to 64: 31%
From no certificate to a master’s: residents 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
No diploma or degree: 11% here, 9.5% in the typical town. For comparison, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
An employment rate of 54%
The census counted work in May 2021, mid-pandemic, so read these rates as a pandemic snapshot. The census’s labour rates, in brief. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
The employment rate of 54% is below the typical 58% across Canada’s towns; 17% of residents are 65 or over.
Among 41 towns of 15,248 to 15,904 people, the 11th youngest
Median age of the Canadian towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
The youngest is Laurel (31.2) and the oldest Parksville (62). Next to Thorncliffe on this scale come Trinity-Bellwoods (38.5), Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines (39.6), Downtown (40.6) and Lougheed (40.7).
Older than Thorncliffe: 2 of the 6 towns nearby
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each links to its own page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thorncliffe | 15,570 | — | 40.5 | 17% | 26% |
| Huntington Hills | 13,184 | 1.7 km | 41 | 18% | 28% |
| Highland Park | 4,908 | 1.8 km | 38.4 | 16% | 28% |
| Mount Pleasant | 9,224 | 2.7 km | 38.1 | 12% | 17% |
| Beddington Heights | 11,333 | 2.9 km | 39.5 | 15% | 33% |
| Charleswood | 5,642 | 3.0 km | 42.3 | 18% | 17% |
| Tuxedo Park | 4,082 | 3.2 km | 37.7 | 13% | 24% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- The census’s own words. “Visible minority” is the census’s term from the Employment Equity Act: people, other than Indigenous peoples, who are non-white in colour or race. Indigenous identity, immigrant status and religion are as residents answered. The page compares them with other towns and never labels a town by them.
- 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.
- Neighbourhoods are sums of small areas. Statistics Canada reports the census by municipality; a neighbourhood’s figures are the sum of its dissemination areas, rounded counts and all, with medians estimated from age and income groups and no 2016 count, as the 2016 areas don’t fit.
Questions about Thorncliffe’s residents
Is Thorncliffe good for families?
17% of residents are under 15 (Canada’s towns: 16%); couple families are 45% of households and one-parent families 9.8%. Schools near Thorncliffe are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Thorncliffe?
Half of Thorncliffe’s households had more than $82,500 in 2020, before tax; across Canada’s towns the median was $86,000.
What is the population of Thorncliffe?
15,570, at the 2021 Census: Statistics Canada makes no later estimate for Thorncliffe alone.
What is the average age in Thorncliffe?
The median age is 40.5, younger than 60% of Canadian towns. 17% are under 15 and 17% 65 or older.
Is Thorncliffe bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 6.6% are. Another 0% speak only French and 91% only English, and French is the first language of 1.4%.
How diverse is Thorncliffe?
Immigrants: 26% (Canada’s towns: 17%). Visible minority: 30%. Indigenous identity: 4.3%.
What religion are people in Thorncliffe?
48% said they have no religion and 44% that they are Christian; 8.3% named another faith.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population. 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).