Photo: Kenny Louie from Vancouver, Canada · CC BY 2.0Deer Lake sits above 91% of Canadian towns for visible minority residents (63%)
In Deer Lake, 13% of residents are under 15, beside 16% across Canada’s towns. The 2021 Census counted 8,417 residents in 3,065 households. The share of households in single-detached houses stands at 32%. The median age here is 45.8, higher than in 72% of Canadian towns.
What stands out about the people of Deer Lake
More immigrants than most towns
Immigrants make up 45% of residents; the medians are 16% across British Columbia’s towns and 17% across Canada’s towns. The largest groups of immigrants were born in Asia (70%) and in Europe (14%), and 18% arrived from 2011 to 2021. Immigrants & newcomers ↓
A mix of backgrounds
63% of residents belong to a visible minority, more than in 91% of Canadian towns; 45% are immigrants. Identity & religion ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 22% in Deer Lake, more than in 68% of Canadian towns
The figures are the 2021 Census’s, except where another date is given. Age bands of five years, the town’s bars against the typical town’s ticks.
Set against 11% across Canada’s towns, just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24 in Deer Lake. The usual figure: 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns. The biggest five-year age group is 55–59, with 8% of residents.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Deer Lake, 45.8. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split.
Deer Lake households average 2.7 people, larger than in 73% of Canadian towns
Private households by type and size.
Against British Columbia’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
In Deer Lake, 7.5% of households are one-parent families. 28% of households are one person living alone; across Canada’s towns the figure is 27%.
A smaller share of common-law partners than 91% of Canadian towns: 5%
Residents 15 and over by marital status; the census counts common-law couples separately.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Half of residents 15 and over are married (Canada’s towns: 46%). Across Canada’s towns, common-law partners come to 11%.
Renter households: 34%, a higher share than 66% 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
Nearly a fifth of homes were built in 2001 or later, more than the 12% built before 1961. By way of comparison, a quarter of households rent their home across Canada’s towns. Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in 74% of Canadian towns.
Half of households earn more than $101,900 a year
The income year is 2020: a year of pandemic benefits such as CERB, which the figures count. Total household income: the median household, and the spread from low to high.
Households by income · share of households
At $101,900, the middle household in Deer Lake out-earned the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000) by 18%. Across British Columbia’s towns the median is $87,000. Pandemic payments such as CERB reached 28% of income recipients here, against 28% in the typical town.
Immigrants make up 45% in Deer Lake, more than in 89% of Canadian towns
Immigrants, newcomers and movers.
Immigrants, by continent of birth · share of all residents; the bar runs to 55%
When immigrants arrived · share of immigrants
Citizenship and moving · share of residents
The largest groups of immigrants were born in Asia (70%) and in Europe (14%). On average, 17% of residents are immigrants across Canada’s towns. 11% of residents are not Canadian citizens, a higher share than in 71% of Canadian towns. Recent arrivals are 18% of immigrants (2011 to 2021), beside 27% across Canada’s towns.
Above 63% of Canadian towns: 39% of residents said they have no religion
Visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion, as residents answered the census.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Across Canada’s towns, the share of Indigenous residents is 2.8%; Deer Lake has 0.8%. For residents with no religion, the comparison across Canada’s towns is 35%. Other faiths: Muslim (5.7%), Buddhist (4%) and Sikh (3.9%).
Beyond English and French: 51% grew up with another language
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
The figure for residents whose mother tongue is French is 0.5% in Deer Lake and 1.5% across Canada’s towns. 5.2% of residents speak English and French.
In Deer Lake, 44% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, more than in 77% of Canadian towns
From no certificate to a master’s: residents 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
No certificate at all: 5.7%, against 9.5%. Elsewhere, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
An employment rate of 56%
Counted in May 2021, during COVID-19, these rates catch the job market before it had recovered. The census’s labour rates, in brief. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
At 56%, the share in work is about the typical 58% across Canada’s towns.
12th highest median age among 41 towns of 8,302 to 8,524
Median age of the Canadian towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
Median ages climb from 30.2 (Garneau) to 60.8 (Electoral Area G, Nanaimo) across the group. Next to Deer Lake on this scale come Drumheller (44), Mount Joy (45.2), Huron-Kinloss (46) and Stone Mills (46.8).
Every neighbour of Deer Lake has a younger population
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each links to its own page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deer Lake | 8,417 | — | 45.8 | 22% | 45% |
| Holdom | 7,976 | 2.0 km | 42.1 | 19% | 47% |
| Garden Village | 6,492 | 2.2 km | 42.9 | 19% | 52% |
| Brentwood | 22,170 | 2.3 km | 35.6 | 13% | 46% |
| Broadview | 8,008 | 2.5 km | 44.2 | 23% | 52% |
| Bainbridge | 3,015 | 2.6 km | 43.3 | 21% | 41% |
| Buckingham Heights | 8,794 | 2.7 km | 41.7 | 18% | 52% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What these tables don’t give. Unpaid care, car ownership and internet access aren’t in the Census Profile, nor is the change by age since 2016. Ethnic origins other than visible minority and Indigenous identity are left out of the charts.
- 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 British Columbia’s towns and Canada’s towns. For each measure we take the median of British Columbia’s towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, then the median of all Canadian towns. Neither counts whole cities or reserves, and every percentile is a Canadian one.
- 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 Deer Lake’s residents
Is Deer Lake bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 5.2% are. Another 0% speak only French and 90% only English, and French is the first language of 0.5%.
How diverse is Deer Lake?
Immigrants: 45% (Canada’s towns: 17%). Visible minority: 63%. Indigenous identity: 0.8%.
What religion are people in Deer Lake?
39% said they have no religion and 43% that they are Christian; 18% named another faith.
Is Deer Lake good for families?
13% of residents are under 15 (Canada’s towns: 16%); couple families are 47% of households and one-parent families 7.5%. Schools near Deer Lake are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Deer Lake?
Half of Deer Lake’s households had more than $101,900 in 2020, before tax; across Canada’s towns the median was $86,000.
What is the population of Deer Lake?
Deer Lake had 8,417 residents at the 2021 Census.
What is the average age in Deer Lake?
The median age is 45.8, older than 72% of Canadian towns. 13% are under 15 and 22% 65 or older.
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).