Photo: Bernard Samuel Fenn · Public domainMore residents with no religion than 94% of Canadian towns: 57%
The typical household size is 2.9 people, against 2.4 across Canada’s towns. 19% of residents are under 15, more than in 77% of Canadian towns. Statistics Canada puts Mission’s population at 47,280 for July 2025. Here, 16% of residents are 65 or over.
Mission grew +8% from 2016 to 2021, ahead of 71% 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 14% higher again.
Younger than 63% of Canadian towns: half of Mission is under 40
Age bands of five years, the town’s bars against the typical town’s ticks.
The biggest five-year age group is 35–39, with 7.6% of residents. At 11%, residents aged 15 to 24 sit close to the figure across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Mission, 40. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About 104 men for every 100 women.
20% of households are one person living alone, fewer than in 76% of Canadian towns
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.
The share of one-parent families tops 64% of Canadian towns: 9.2%. The wider picture: 27% of households are one person living alone across Canada’s towns.
In Mission, 47% of residents 15 and over are married, more than in 53% of Canadian towns
Residents 15 and over by marital status; the census counts common-law couples separately.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
27% of adults are single and have never married; the typical town has 27%. Elsewhere, 46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns. Common-law partners account for 11%.
Mission sits below 55% of Canadian towns for renter households (23%)
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: 26% date from 2001 or later, 11% from before 1961. Single-detached houses hold nearly two thirds of households, more than in 51% of Canadian towns, and buildings of five or more storeys 0.6%. Set beside that, 25% of households rent their home across Canada’s towns.
Household income, middle of the range: $98,000 a year
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
At $98,000, the middle household in Mission out-earned the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000) by 14%. Within British Columbia’s towns, the household in the middle had $87,000. In 2020, 26% of income recipients drew a COVID-19 emergency or recovery benefit; the typical town had 28%.
Residents who moved in within the year: 12%, a higher share than 60% of Canadian towns
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
Recent arrivals are just over a fifth of immigrants (2011 to 2021), beside 27% across Canada’s towns. The wider picture: just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns. Immigrants here were most often born in Asia (50%), then in Europe (34%).
Indigenous residents: 8.3%, a higher share than 83% of Canadian towns
Identity and faith, in the census’s categories.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Other faiths: Sikh (8.1%). The wider picture: 2.8% of residents have an Indigenous identity across Canada’s towns. Across Canada’s towns, 15% of residents belong to a visible minority; in Mission, 18%.
82% have English as their mother tongue; 5% 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
Against a figure of 7.5% across Canada’s towns, the share of bilingual residents in Mission comes in at 5%. On the census count, 0.9% of residents have French as their mother tongue.
Degree holders aged 25 to 64 make up 16% in Mission, less than in 81% of Canadian towns
Education of residents 25 to 64, by highest credential.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Without any certificate: 12% of 25- to 64-year-olds (typical: 9.5%).
61% of adults were employed in May 2021
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.
Employment runs above the middle of Canada’s towns (58%), at 61%.
Youngest by rank: 11th of 41 towns of 40,728 to 54,539 people
Median age of the Canadian towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
Whalley is the youngest of them at 34.9; Shawinigan, at 54.4, the oldest. Closest in median age to Mission are East Gwillimbury (39.6), Roseborough (40), Hagerman's Corners (40.5) and Laval-des-Rapides (40.6).
Older than Mission: 2 of the 3 towns nearby
Neighbouring places and their median ages; each name opens its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mission | 47,280 | — | 40 | 16% | 17% |
| Electoral Area G, Fraser Valley | 1,808 | 7.5 km | 46.4 | 20% | 15% |
| Electoral Area F, Fraser Valley | 1,556 | 10.6 km | 46.4 | 18% | 13% |
| Abbotsford | 175,358 | 11.1 km | 39.2 | 18% | 29% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. Indigenous identity, immigrant status and religion are as residents answered them. “Visible minority” follows the Employment Equity Act, meaning people other than Indigenous peoples who are non-white in colour or race. We compare these figures across towns; none is a label for a town.
- Against British Columbia’s towns and Canada’s towns. The middle of British Columbia’s towns of 2,500 or more comes first, the middle of all Canadian towns second; cities as a whole and First Nations reserves stay out, and percentiles are within Canada.
Questions about Mission’s residents
Is Mission bilingual?
5% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 0% speak French only and 93% English only. French is the mother tongue of 0.9%.
How diverse is Mission?
17% of residents are immigrants (Canada’s towns: 17%); 18% belong to a visible minority and 8.3% have an Indigenous identity.
What religion are people in Mission?
32% are Christian and 57% have no religion; 11% follow another religion.
Is Mission good for families?
Under 15: 19% (Canada’s towns: 16%). Couple families: 51% of households. One-parent families: 9.2%. Schools near Mission are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Mission?
The median household in Mission took in $98,000 in 2020, against $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Mission?
Mission had about 47,280 residents in July 2025, Statistics Canada estimates; the 2021 Census counted 41,519, 8% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Mission?
A median age of 40, younger than 63% of Canadian towns. Children under 15 make up 19%, and people 65 and over 16%.
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).