Photo: Vxceprex · CC BY-SA 3.0Half of Grand Forks is over 56, older than 96% of Canadian towns
The average household has 2.1 people, against 2.4 across Canada’s towns. Few places have so few children under 15: 11% here, fewer than in 91% of Canadian towns. Some 4,308 people live in Grand Forks, by the estimate for July 2025. Residents with no religion account for 61%.
What stands out about the people of Grand Forks
Older than most towns
Half of Grand Forks’s residents are under 56 and half over; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 35% are 65 or over, against 19% across Canada’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Grand Forks changed by +2% from 2016 to 2021, slower than 67% of Canadian towns
Every figure here comes from the 2021 Census unless it carries another date. Two census counts, five years apart, and Statistics Canada’s newest estimate.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Medians for comparison: +4% across Canada’s towns; +6% across British Columbia’s towns. Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025 is 5% higher again.
In Grand Forks, 35% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 97% of Canadian towns
Residents by five-year age band, each beside the typical town (the tick).
8.5% of residents are aged 15 to 24; across Canada’s towns the figure is 11%. Set beside that, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Grand Forks, 56. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
One-person households make up 33% in Grand Forks, more 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.
At 9.1%, one-parent families sit close to the figure across Canada’s towns. Elsewhere, 27% of households are one person living alone across Canada’s towns.
Common-law partners make up 13% in Grand Forks, more than in 68% of Canadian towns
Married, common-law, single: residents 15 and over.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
With married residents 15 and over at 43%, Grand Forks is behind 62% of Canadian towns on that count. Across Canada’s towns, common-law partners come to 11%.
Grand Forks: 76% of households live in a single-detached house, above 66% of Canadian towns
Dwelling types, tenure and age of the housing. 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
Older homes outnumber new: 25% predate 1961, 16% date from 2001 or later. Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in nearly three quarters of Canadian towns. Against that, 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns.
Before tax, the median household income is $61,600 a year
Incomes here are for 2020, the year before the census, CERB and other pandemic benefits included. What households took in before tax, at the middle and across income groups.
Households by income · share of households
Household incomes run lower in Grand Forks: half had less than $61,600, 28% under the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Across British Columbia’s towns, half of households had more than $87,000 before tax. Emergency and recovery benefits reached 21% of those with an income, beside a typical 28%.
Residents who moved in within the year: 15%, a higher share than 76% of Canadian towns
Where immigrants were born and when they came, and how recently residents moved in.
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: 9.1%, below 67% of Canadian towns. Residents who moved in within the year: 11% across Canada’s towns, for comparison. On the census count, 3.9% of residents are not Canadian citizens.
6% of residents have an Indigenous identity, more than in 75% of Canadian towns
Visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion, as residents answered the census.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Set against 15% across Canada’s towns, 6% of residents belong to a visible minority in Grand Forks. As a reference point, 2.8% of residents have an Indigenous identity across Canada’s towns.
English is the mother tongue of 88%, and 3.7% speak French as well
The official languages residents can speak, and the ones they learned first.
Can hold a conversation in · share of all residents
Mother tongue · share of all residents
Against a figure of 7.5% across Canada’s towns, the share of bilingual residents in Grand Forks comes in at 3.7%. In Grand Forks, 0.9% of residents have French as their mother tongue.
In Grand Forks, 12% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, fewer than in 90% of Canadian towns
From no certificate to a master’s: residents 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
With no certificate, diploma or degree: 14%, beside a typical 9.5%. Elsewhere, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
Employment: 47% of residents 15 and over had a job
Counted in May 2021, during COVID-19, these rates catch the job market before it had recovered. Work, briefly: employment, unemployment, participation and working from home. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
With 35% of residents 65 or over, the employment rate of 47% sits under the typical 58% across Canada’s towns.
Among 41 towns of 4,230 to 4,380 people, the 3rd oldest
The Canadian towns closest in population, from youngest to oldest.
The group spans Spence, youngest at 33.1, to Highlands East, oldest at 58.8. Nearest to Grand Forks in age: Bancroft (56), Victoria County, Subdivision B (56), Claresholm (56.8) and Highlands East (58.8).
Every neighbour of Grand Forks has an older population
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each links to its own page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Forks | 4,308 | — | 56 | 35% | 9.1% |
| Electoral Area D (Rural Grand Forks), Kootenay Boundary | 3,570 | 2.7 km | 57.6 | 33% | 6.5% |
| Electoral Area C (Christina Lake), Kootenay Boundary | 1,666 | 17.6 km | 60 | 37% | 7.8% |
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. 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. These are self-reported answers: Indigenous identity, immigrant status, religion. The census’s “visible minority” comes from the Employment Equity Act (non-white in colour or race, Indigenous peoples aside), and the page sets each beside other towns without labelling any.
Questions about Grand Forks’s residents
How diverse is Grand Forks?
Immigrants make up 9.1% of residents, against 17% across Canada’s towns. 6% are members of a visible minority, and 6% are First Nations, Métis or Inuit.
What religion are people in Grand Forks?
Christian: 34%. No religion: 61%. Another religion: 4.8%.
Is Grand Forks good for families?
Across Canada’s towns, a typical 16% of residents are under 15; here, 11%. 49% of households are couple families and 9.1% one-parent families. Schools near Grand Forks are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Grand Forks?
$61,600 before tax, in 2020: the middle household’s income in Grand Forks (Canada’s towns: $86,000).
What is the population of Grand Forks?
Statistics Canada estimates 4,308 residents for July 2025; the 2021 Census counted 4,112 in Grand Forks, 2% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Grand Forks?
56 is the median age, older than 96% of Canadian towns. Under 15: 11%. 65 and over: 35%.
Is Grand Forks bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 3.7% are. Another 0% speak only French and 96% only English, and French is the first language of 0.9%.
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).