Photo: The Interior · CC BY-SA 4.0Half of Blind Bay is over 58.8, older than 99% of Canadian towns
Renter households make up 11%, against 25% across Canada’s towns. About 9,984 people lived in Blind Bay in July 2025, Statistics Canada estimates. Here, 55% of residents said they have no religion. Children under 15 are rarer here than in 91% of Canadian towns. Statistics Canada counts Blind Bay as part of Columbia-Shuswap C: the figures on this page are the municipality’s.
What stands out about the people of Blind Bay
Older than most towns
Line Blind Bay’s residents up by age and the one in the middle is 58.8; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 34% are 65 or over, against 19% across Canada’s towns. Ages ↓
Growing faster than most
Blind Bay went from 7,921 people in 2016 to 8,919 in 2021, +13%: faster growth than in 88% of Canadian towns. Population change ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
A +13% change since 2016: faster than 88% of Canadian towns
All figures are the 2021 Census’s unless another date is shown. 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 12% higher again. The median across Canada’s towns is +4%, and across British Columbia’s towns +6%.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 34% in Blind Bay, more than in 97% of Canadian towns
Age bands of five years, the town’s bars against the typical town’s ticks.
6.2% of residents are aged 15 to 24 (Canada’s towns: 11%). The usual figure: 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Blind Bay, 58.8. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split.
Households here average 2.2 people, below 74% of Canadian towns
Who shares a home: household types and sizes.
Against British Columbia’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
By its share of one-parent families (3.9%), Blind Bay is below 98% of Canadian towns. 24% of households are one person living alone, a lower share than in 60% of Canadian towns.
More married residents 15 and over than 94% of Canadian towns: 60%
Residents 15 and over by marital status; the census counts common-law couples separately.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Where just over one in ten residents 15 and over live common-law across Canada’s towns, Blind Bay has 12%.
In Blind Bay, 86% of households live in a single-detached house, more than in 82% 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 are rarer here than in nearly three quarters of Canadian towns. Across Canada’s towns, 64% of households live in a single-detached house. 34% of homes were built in 2001 or later, more than the 6.8% built before 1961.
$74,500 a year: where the middle household sits
The income year is 2020: a year of pandemic benefits such as CERB, which the figures count. Income per household, before tax, with the groups it falls into.
Households by income · share of households
The median across Canada’s towns is $86,000; Blind Bay’s, at $74,500, is 13% lower. $87,000 is the median household income across British Columbia’s towns. The pandemic’s benefits: 22% of income recipients, against 28% in the typical town.
10% of residents are immigrants
Immigrants, newcomers and movers.
Immigrants, by continent of birth · share of all residents; the bar runs to 20%
When immigrants arrived · share of immigrants
Citizenship and moving · share of residents
Most immigrants were born in Europe (73%) or in the Americas (14%). Fewer immigrants than in 64% of Canadian towns: 10%. Add to that, of the immigrants living here, 6.7% came between 2011 and 2021; across Canada’s towns the share is 27%.
5.9% of residents have an Indigenous identity, a share 74% of Canadian towns don’t reach
Residents’ own answers on visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
2.4% of residents belong to a visible minority; across Canada’s towns the figure is 15%. Indigenous residents make up 2.8% across Canada’s towns.
English is the mother tongue of 92%, and 4.1% 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: English 98%, French 0.2%. Bilingual residents are rarer here than in 85% of Canadian towns. Little separates the share of residents whose mother tongue is French here, 1.1%, from the figure across Canada’s towns.
Only 12% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher in Blind Bay
The highest diploma or degree of adults of working age (25 to 64).
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
At the other end, 11% hold no certificate, diploma or degree, against a typical 9.5%. The usual figure: 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
44% of residents 15 and over were in work
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.
With 34% of residents 65 or over, the employment rate of 44% sits under the typical 58% across Canada’s towns.
In its size band (9,828 to 10,143), the 1st oldest of 41 towns
Median age of the Canadian towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
The youngest of these towns is Stanley, at 25.6; the oldest, Blind Bay, is at 58.8. The towns whose median age is nearest to Blind Bay’s: Ladysmith (52.8) and Shediac (52.8).
1 of the 2 nearest towns are older than Blind Bay
Places nearby, shaded by median age, each linked to its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blind Bay | 9,984 | — | 58.8 | 34% | 10% |
| Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap | 3,475 | 11.0 km | 61.2 | 39% | 11% |
| Salmon Arm | 20,891 | 18.8 km | 51.6 | 30% | 10% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against British Columbia’s towns and Canada’s towns. Provincial and national yardsticks: British Columbia’s towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents, and all Canadian towns of that size. No whole city and no First Nations reserve is in either median.
- What these tables don’t give. For origins the charts stop at visible minority and Indigenous identity, and the Census Profile has nothing on unpaid care, cars or the internet, or on change by age since 2016.
- 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.
Questions about Blind Bay’s residents
How diverse is Blind Bay?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 17% are immigrants; here, 10%. A visible minority makes up 2.4% and Indigenous residents 5.9%.
What religion are people in Blind Bay?
Most often Christian (44%) or no religion (55%); other religions make up 0.9%.
Is Blind Bay good for families?
Children under 15 are 11% of residents, against 16% across Canada’s towns. Couple families make up 63% of households and one-parent families 3.9%. Schools near Blind Bay are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Blind Bay?
Median total household income in Blind Bay was $74,500 in 2020, against a median of $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Blind Bay?
The latest figure is an estimate: 9,984 residents in July 2025. At the 2021 Census, Blind Bay counted 8,919, 13% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Blind Bay?
Half the residents are older than 58.8 and half younger, older than 99% of Canadian towns; 11% are children under 15 and 34% are 65 or over.
Is Blind Bay bilingual?
Both official languages are spoken by 4.1% of residents, against a typical 7.5% across Canada’s towns. 96% speak only English and 0% only French; 1.1% grew up with French.
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).