Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainA median age of 59.6: Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay is older than 99% of Canadian towns
Compared with 25% across Canada’s towns, one in ten households rent their home here. With about 1,965 residents in July 2025, Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay counted 865 households at the 2021 Census. Across Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay, 9% of residents are under 15. 62% of residents said they have no religion, more than in 97% of Canadian towns.
What stands out about the people of Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay
Older than most towns
Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay’s median age is 59.6; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 36% are 65 or over, against 19% across Canada’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Since 2016, Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay has grown +6%, faster than 63% of Canadian towns
All figures are the 2021 Census’s unless another date is shown. How the population moved between the last two censuses, and since.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025 is 10% higher again. Across Canada’s towns, half of towns changed by more than +4%; across British Columbia’s towns, by more than +6%.
Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay ranks above 98% of Canadian towns on residents aged 65 and over: 36%
Every five-year age group as a share of residents; ticks mark the typical town.
In Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay, 5.6% of residents are aged 15 to 24, beside 11% across Canada’s towns. To put it in context, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About 104 men for every 100 women.
Smaller households than 90% of Canadian towns: 2 people on average
Households by family type and by the number of people in them.
Against British Columbia’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
One-parent families: 3.4%, below 99% of Canadian towns. In Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay, 30% of households are one person living alone.
A higher share of common-law partners than 78% of Canadian towns, at 16%
How adults live as couples, or don’t, with common-law unions shown on their own.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Singles who have never married make up 15% of adults, beside a typical 27%. Across Canada’s towns, the share of common-law partners is 11%.
A larger share of households in single-detached houses than 87% of Canadian towns: 89%
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
Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in 74% of Canadian towns. As a yardstick, 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns. Newer homes outnumber old: 20% date from 2001 or later, 9.8% from before 1961.
Half above, half below $62,400 a year in household income
Census incomes are for 2020, the year before the census, when CERB and other pandemic benefits topped up many households. 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; Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay’s, at $62,400, is 27% lower. For British Columbia’s towns, the median household income is $87,000. The pandemic’s benefits: 23% of income recipients, against 28% in the typical town.
Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay ranks above 81% of Canadian towns on residents who moved in within the year: 15%
Birthplaces and arrival years of immigrants, citizenship and recent moves.
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 (53%) or in the Americas (28%). Set beside that, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns. 16% of immigrants arrived between 2011 and 2021, against 27% across Canada’s towns.
In Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay, 6.2% of residents have an Indigenous identity, more than in 76% of Canadian towns
Identity and faith, in the census’s categories.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
With visible minority residents at 3.1%, Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay is behind just over three quarters of Canadian towns on that count. Indigenous residents: 2.8% across Canada’s towns, for comparison.
91% have English as their mother tongue; 3.9% also speak French
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
7.5% of residents speak English and French across Canada’s towns, against 3.9% in Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay. Here, 1.1% of residents have French as their mother tongue.
Degree holders aged 25 to 64: 8.8%, a lower share than 98% of Canadian towns
Education of residents 25 to 64, by highest credential.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Without any certificate: 15% of 25- to 64-year-olds (typical: 9.5%).
39% of adults were employed in May 2021
Census day was in May 2021, mid-pandemic: some of these rates are lower than in a usual year. Four labour figures from the census. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
At 39%, fewer residents are in work than the typical 58% across Canada’s towns, and 36% are 65 or over.
Every neighbour of Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay has a younger population
Neighbouring places and their median ages; each name opens its page. The nearest places to Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay with figures are 11–72 km away.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay | 1,965 | — | 59.6 | 36% | 14% |
| Nakusp | 1,740 | 10.7 km | 53.2 | 32% | 9.1% |
| Electoral Area D, Central Kootenay | 1,596 | 55.4 km | 56 | 32% | 20% |
| Electoral Area E, North Okanagan | 1,248 | 57.4 km | 48 | 23% | 6% |
| Electoral Area H, Central Kootenay | 5,390 | 62.8 km | 47.2 | 22% | 12% |
| Kaslo | 1,141 | 71.7 km | 58 | 36% | 18% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against British Columbia’s towns and Canada’s towns. Each comparison is its own median: over British Columbia’s towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, and over all Canadian towns of that size (whole cities and First Nations reserves left out). Percentiles are within Canada only.
- 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.
Questions about Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay’s residents
What is the median income in Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay?
The median household in Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay took in $62,400 in 2020, against $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay?
Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay had about 1,965 residents in July 2025, Statistics Canada estimates; the 2021 Census counted 1,784, 6% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay?
A median age of 59.6. Children under 15 make up 9%, and people 65 and over 36%.
Is Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay bilingual?
3.9% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 0% speak French only and 96% English only. French is the mother tongue of 1.1%.
How diverse is Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay?
14% of residents are immigrants (Canada’s towns: 17%); 3.1% belong to a visible minority and 6.2% have an Indigenous identity.
What religion are people in Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay?
35% are Christian and 62% have no religion; 3.6% follow another religion.
Is Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay good for families?
Under 15: 9% (Canada’s towns: 16%). Couple families: 59% of households. One-parent families: 3.4%. Schools near Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay are on its Schools page.
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).