Photo: Kiyoteru Awaji · CC BY 4.0In Clearwater, 75% of residents said they have no religion, more than in 99% of Canadian towns
Just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns, against 14% in Clearwater. Higher than in nearly four fifths of Canadian towns: 25% of residents are 65 or over. The 2021 Census found 1,055 households here; by July 2025 the population was about 2,500. For Clearwater, the census puts residents aged 15 to 24 at 8.8%.
What stands out about the people of Clearwater
First Nations, Métis and Inuit residents
13% of residents identify as First Nations, Métis or Inuit, more than in 92% of Canadian towns; 3.8% are Registered or Treaty Indians. Identity & religion ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
+3% since 2016: slower than 58% of Canadian towns
Figures are from the 2021 Census unless dated otherwise. How the population moved between the last two censuses, and since.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Across Canada’s towns, half of towns changed by more than +4%; across British Columbia’s towns, by more than +6%. Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025 is 5% higher again.
A median age of 48.4: Clearwater is older than 81% of Canadian towns
Age bands of five years, the town’s bars against the typical town’s ticks.
No age band is larger than 65–69: 9.2% of residents, 1.5 times the share across Canada’s towns. Locally, 17% of residents are under 15.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Clearwater, 48.4. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split.
Smaller households than 74% of Canadian towns: 2.2 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.
Where 27% of households are one person living alone across Canada’s towns, Clearwater has 32%. Here, nearly one in ten households are one-parent families.
A higher share of common-law partners than 77% of Canadian towns, at 15%
Residents 15 and over by marital status; the census counts common-law couples separately.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
22% of adults have never married and don’t live common-law (typical: 27%). Measured more widely, 11% of residents 15 and over live common-law across Canada’s towns.
Households in single-detached houses make up 73% in Clearwater, more than in 62% 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
Newer homes outnumber old: 17% date from 2001 or later, 6.1% from before 1961. The usual figure: 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns. Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in 74% of Canadian towns. 12% of homes need major repairs, against a typical 5.8%.
Half of households earn more than $68,000 a year
Census incomes are for 2020, the year before the census, when CERB and other pandemic benefits topped up many households. What households took in before tax, at the middle and across income groups.
Households by income · share of households
Clearwater’s median household took in $68,000 before tax, 21% less than the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). The figure for British Columbia’s towns: $87,000. COVID-19 benefits were paid to 26% of residents with an income, where the typical town had 28%.
6.6% 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
Immigrants here were most often born in Europe (58%), then in the Americas (36%). Lower than in 75% of Canadian towns: 6.6% of residents are immigrants. Across Canada’s towns, the share of residents without Canadian citizenship is 5.8%; Clearwater has 2.5%.
More Indigenous residents than 92% of Canadian towns: 13%
Identity and faith, in the census’s categories.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Across Canada’s towns, the share of visible minority residents is 15%; Clearwater has 3%. Against that, 2.8% of residents have an Indigenous identity across Canada’s towns.
93% have English as their mother tongue; 3.4% also speak French
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 91% of Canadian towns. Residents whose mother tongue is French: 1.5%, near enough the figure across Canada’s towns.
Degree holders aged 25 to 64: 9.4%, a lower share than 97% of Canadian towns
Education of residents 25 to 64, by highest credential.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
At the bottom of the ladder, 12% hold no certificate of any kind, against 9.5% in the typical town. The usual figure: 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
Employment: 44% of residents 15 and over had a job
These rates date from May 2021, during the pandemic, and run lower than a normal year’s. The census’s labour rates, in brief. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
44% of residents 15 and over have a job, against a typical 58% across Canada’s towns; 25% are 65 or more.
In its size band (2,500 to 2,588), the 14th oldest of 41 towns
Median age of the Canadian towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
The youngest of these towns is City Commercial Core, at 32.7; the oldest, North Frontenac, is at 61.6. By median age, Clearwater sits among Hébertville (46.4), Sherwood (47.7), Rimbey (50) and Hatley (50).
Every nearby town is older than Clearwater
Neighbouring places and their median ages; each name opens its page. The nearest places to Clearwater with figures are 12–77 km away.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clearwater | 2,500 | — | 48.4 | 25% | 6.6% |
| Electoral Area A (Wells Gray Country), Thompson-Nicola | 1,766 | 12.4 km | 55.2 | 28% | 8.7% |
| Barriere | 1,913 | 52.0 km | 58.4 | 34% | 6.9% |
| Electoral Area O (Lower North Thompson), Thompson-Nicola | 1,653 | 62.9 km | 55.2 | 30% | 8.6% |
| Electoral Area H, Cariboo | 2,047 | 75.8 km | 57.2 | 32% | 9.1% |
| Electoral Area L, Cariboo | 5,358 | 77.1 km | 60 | 36% | 11% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What these tables don’t give. The Census Profile has no unpaid care, cars or internet access, and no change by age since 2016; ethnic origins beyond visible minority and Indigenous identity aren’t charted here.
- The census’s own words. The census takes “visible minority” from the Employment Equity Act: anyone other than Indigenous peoples who is non-white in colour or race. Indigenous identity, immigrant status and religion are what residents reported, compared here with other towns and never used as 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.
Questions about Clearwater’s residents
What is the average age in Clearwater?
A median age of 48.4, older than 81% of Canadian towns. Children under 15 make up 17%, and people 65 and over 25%.
Is Clearwater bilingual?
3.4% 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 1.5%.
How diverse is Clearwater?
6.6% of residents are immigrants (Canada’s towns: 17%); 3% belong to a visible minority and 13% have an Indigenous identity.
What religion are people in Clearwater?
23% are Christian and 75% have no religion; 1.9% follow another religion.
Is Clearwater good for families?
Under 15: 17% (Canada’s towns: 16%). Couple families: 53% of households. One-parent families: 8.1%. Schools near Clearwater are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Clearwater?
The median household in Clearwater took in $68,000 in 2020, against $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Clearwater?
Clearwater had about 2,500 residents in July 2025, Statistics Canada estimates; the 2021 Census counted 2,388, 3% more than 2016.
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).