Photo: Simon Law from Montréal, QC, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0Downtown is younger than 94% of Canadian towns: a median age of 33.8
By its share of households in single-detached houses (1.9%), Downtown is below 97% of Canadian towns. Census day 2021: 12,880 residents and 8,315 households locally. The share of residents with no religion stands at 57%. Few places have as many residents who moved in within the year: 33% here, more than in 99% of Canadian towns.
What stands out about the people of Downtown
Younger than most towns
Downtown’s median age is 33.8; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 4.3% are under 15 and 12% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
A neighbourhood of renters
Renters are 73% of households, more than in 96% of Canadian towns, and 96% of households live in an apartment. Homes ↓
Many people living alone
One-person households make up 61%, more than in 99% of Canadian towns, and 12% of residents are 65 or over. Households ↓
A neighbourhood of high-rises
78% of households live in a building of five or more storeys, more than in 98% of Canadian towns; 53% of homes are condominiums. Homes ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Fewer children under 15 than 99% of Canadian towns: 4.3%
Unless a figure says otherwise, it is from the 2021 Census. Every five-year age group as a share of residents; ticks mark the typical town.
The largest age band is 25–29: 19% of residents, 3.2 times the share across Canada’s towns. On the census count, 14% of residents are aged 15 to 24. Residents aged 65 and over are rarer here than in 88% of Canadian towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Downtown, 33.8. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
47% women, 53% men
About 111 men for every 100 women.
A higher share of one-person households than 99% of Canadian towns, at 61%
Private households by type and size.
Against Alberta’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
Shared houses stand out: one in ten households are unrelated adults living together, more than in 95% of Canadian towns. Across Canada’s towns, one-person households come to 27%. Average household size: 1.5 people. Here 2.5% of households are one-parent families, where the figure across Canada’s towns is 8.2%.
Fewer married residents 15 and over than 98% of Canadian towns: 22%
How adults live as couples, or don’t, with common-law unions shown on their own.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Here 16% of residents 15 and over live common-law, where the figure across Canada’s towns is 11%. Never married and not common-law: 49% of adults (typical: 27%).
In Downtown, 78% of households live in a building of five or more storeys, more than in 98% of Canadian towns
The kinds of homes people live in, who owns and who rents, and how old the homes are. 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
Renter households: 73% here and 25% across Canada’s towns. Newer homes outnumber old: 39% date from 2001 or later, 11% from before 1961.
Household income, middle of the range: $68,100 a year
The census asked about income in 2020: a pandemic year, with CERB and other emergency benefits counted in. Income per household, before tax, with the groups it falls into.
Households by income · share of households
The middle household in Downtown had $68,100 before tax, 21% below the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). For Alberta’s towns, the median household income is $92,200. Pandemic benefits reached 33% of residents with an income, against a typical 28%.
18% of residents are not Canadian citizens, a share 88% of Canadian towns don’t reach
Birthplaces and arrival years of immigrants, citizenship and recent moves.
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
25% of residents are immigrants; across Canada’s towns the figure is 17%. As a reference point, 5.8% of residents are not Canadian citizens across Canada’s towns.
A larger share of visible minority residents than 75% of Canadian towns: 37%
Visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion, as residents answered the census.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Compared with 2.8% across Canada’s towns, 5.8% of residents have an Indigenous identity here. By way of comparison, 15% of residents belong to a visible minority across Canada’s towns. Among other religions: Muslim (5.3%) and Hindu (2.4%).
Downtown ranks above 60% of Canadian towns on bilingual residents: 9.7%
Who can speak English and French, mother tongue, and the language spoken most at home.
Can hold a conversation in · share of all residents
Mother tongue · share of all residents
13% most often speak a language other than English or French at home, and 1% speak neither official language. To put it in context, 7.5% of residents speak English and French across Canada’s towns. Residents whose mother tongue is French make up 1.8%, close to the figure across Canada’s towns.
A higher share of degree holders aged 25 to 64 than 91% of Canadian towns, at 56%
From no certificate to a master’s: residents 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Across Canada’s towns, 27% of 25- to 64-year-olds hold a degree; in Downtown, 56%, and 19% have a college or trades credential (typical: 29%). Those with no credential make up 5%, next to 9.5% in the typical town.
Employment: 69% of residents 15 and over had a job
The census was taken in May 2021, during the pandemic, so these rates show a labour market still recovering. Four labour figures from the census. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
69% of residents 15 and over have a job; across Canada’s towns the typical share is 58%.
In its size band (12,605 to 13,169), the 4th youngest of 41 towns
Towns of about this size, placed by median age.
North Saanich is the oldest at 56.8, Thompson the youngest at 31. The closest ages to Downtown’s belong to Yonge-Bay Corridor (31.2), Lloydminster (Part) (32), New Brighton (34.2) and New Springbrook (34.7).
Every neighbour of Downtown has an older population
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each links to its own page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Downtown | 12,880 | — | 33.8 | 12% | 25% |
| Central McDougall | 4,802 | 1.6 km | 34.7 | 8.4% | 41% |
| Wîhkwêntôwin | 19,050 | 1.6 km | 38.6 | 20% | 25% |
| Strathcona | 8,283 | 1.8 km | 35 | 14% | 19% |
| Riverdale | 5,490 | 1.8 km | 43.2 | 21% | 14% |
| Queen Mary Park | 7,958 | 1.9 km | 34 | 8.7% | 38% |
| Boyle Street | 5,862 | 2.1 km | 40.7 | 19% | 35% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Neighbourhoods are sums of small areas. There is no census profile for a neighbourhood, so we add up the dissemination areas inside it. Each count is a sum of Statistics Canada’s rounded counts, the median age and income come from the published groups, and with 2016’s areas drawn differently there is no 2016 count.
- What these tables don’t give. Some things the page can’t show: the Census Profile asks nothing about unpaid care, cars or internet access, and gives no change by age since 2016. Ethnic origins beyond visible minority and Indigenous identity aren’t charted.
- 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. A figure here is set beside two middles, the median across Alberta’s places of 2,500 people or more and the median across all Canadian towns that size; reserves and entire cities are excluded from both.
Questions about Downtown’s residents
What is the median income in Downtown?
Median total household income in Downtown was $68,100 in 2020, against a median of $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Downtown?
12,880, at the 2021 Census: Statistics Canada makes no later estimate for Downtown alone.
What is the average age in Downtown?
Half the residents are older than 33.8 and half younger, younger than 94% of Canadian towns; 4.3% are children under 15 and 12% are 65 or over.
Is Downtown bilingual?
Both official languages are spoken by 9.7% of residents, against a typical 7.5% across Canada’s towns. 89% speak only English and 0% only French; 1.8% grew up with French.
How diverse is Downtown?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 17% are immigrants; here, 25%. A visible minority makes up 37% and Indigenous residents 5.8%.
What religion are people in Downtown?
Most often Christian (30%) or no religion (57%); other religions make up 13%.
Is Downtown good for families?
Children under 15 are 4.3% of residents, against 16% across Canada’s towns. Couple families make up 26% of households and one-parent families 2.5%. Schools near Downtown are on its Schools page.
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).