Photo: James Blake aka Webgeer at en.wikipedia · CC BY 2.0A median age of 53.2: Powell River is older than 92% of Canadian towns
Set against 35% across Canada’s towns, 62% of residents said they have no religion in Powell River. Some 14,947 people live here, by the estimate for July 2025. On the census count, 13% of residents are under 15. One-person households are more common here than in 77% of Canadian towns.
What stands out about the people of Powell River
Older than most towns
Powell River’s median age is 53.2; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 31% are 65 or over, against 19% across Canada’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Powell River’s population changed by +6% since 2016, more than in 62% of Canadian towns
Every figure here comes from the 2021 Census unless it carries another date. Residents at the 2016 and 2021 censuses and the latest estimate, with the 2016–2021 change beside other towns.
Change, 2016 to 2021
The July 2025 estimate adds another 7%.
31% of residents are 65 or over, a share 94% of Canadian towns don’t reach
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
Just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24 across Canada’s towns, against 8.5% in Powell River. The wider picture: 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Powell River, 53.2. 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.
Powell River households average 2.1 people, smaller than in 83% of Canadian towns
Private households by type and size.
Against British Columbia’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
The share of one-parent families trails 73% of Canadian towns: 6.8%.
More common-law partners than 64% of Canadian towns: 12%
Marital status of residents 15 and over, with common-law couples counted apart.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Just over a fifth of adults are single and have never married; the typical town has 27%. In Powell River, 46% of residents 15 and over are married. Common-law partners: 11% across Canada’s towns, for comparison.
Powell River ranks above 61% of Canadian towns on households in single-detached houses: 72%
Houses and apartments, owners and renters, older and newer homes. 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: 37% predate 1961, 13% date from 2001 or later. Against that, 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns. Households in buildings of five or more storeys make up 0.3%, close to the figure across Canada’s towns.
The middle household earns $67,000 a year
The census asked about income in 2020: a pandemic year, with CERB and other emergency benefits counted in. What households took in before tax, at the middle and across income groups.
Households by income · share of households
Powell River’s median household took in $67,000 before tax, 22% less than the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). The median across British Columbia’s towns is $87,000. COVID-19 benefits went to 22% of residents with an income (typical: 28%).
In Powell River, 13% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, more than in 64% of Canadian towns
Immigrants by continent of birth and when they arrived, citizenship, and who moved in recently.
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
Of the immigrants living here, 19% came between 2011 and 2021; across Canada’s towns the share is 27%. Most immigrants were born in Europe (60%) or in Asia (18%). Powell River has fewer residents without Canadian citizenship than 61% of Canadian towns, at 3.6%. Typically, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns.
Powell River: 6.1% of residents have an Indigenous identity, above 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
Across Canada’s towns, the share of visible minority residents is 15%; Powell River has 6.1%. For Indigenous residents, the comparison across Canada’s towns is 2.8%.
88% have English as their mother tongue; 7% also speak French
English, French and the other languages people grew up with or speak at home.
Can hold a conversation in · share of all residents
Mother tongue · share of all residents
Little separates the share of residents whose mother tongue is French here, 2.1%, from the figure across Canada’s towns.
Powell River sits below 71% of Canadian towns for degree holders aged 25 to 64 (19%)
From no certificate to a master’s: residents 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
11% have no certificate, diploma or degree (typical: 9.5%). As a yardstick, 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
These rates date from May 2021, during the pandemic, and run lower than a normal year’s. The census’s work rates at a glance. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
Across Canada’s towns the typical rate is 58%, above this 47%; 31% of residents are 65 or over.
Ranked by age, 3rd oldest of 41 towns this size
Similar-sized towns by median age; each dot is a town.
Between Chappelle (31.7) and Campbellford (55.2) lies the rest of the group. Closest in median age to Powell River are Rivière-Gatineau (47.3), Central Elgin (48.8), Sainte-Adèle (53.6) and Campbellford (55.2).
No nearby town is as young as Powell River
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each links to its own page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Powell River | 14,947 | — | 53.2 | 31% | 13% |
| Electoral Area B, qathet | 1,714 | 4.7 km | 58 | 32% | 11% |
| Electoral Area C, qathet | 2,409 | 13.1 km | 56 | 34% | 15% |
| Electoral Area D, qathet | 1,221 | 19.1 km | 62.4 | 43% | 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. 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. 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.
Questions about Powell River’s residents
Is Powell River bilingual?
English and French: 7% speak both (Canada’s towns: 7.5%). English only: 93%. French only: 0%. French mother tongue: 2.1%.
How diverse is Powell River?
13% of residents are immigrants (Canada’s towns: 17%); 6.1% belong to a visible minority and 6.1% have an Indigenous identity.
What religion are people in Powell River?
36% are Christian and 62% have no religion; 2.8% follow another religion.
Is Powell River good for families?
Under 15: 13% (Canada’s towns: 16%). Couple families: 49% of households. One-parent families: 6.8%. Schools near Powell River are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Powell River?
The median household in Powell River took in $67,000 in 2020, against $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Powell River?
Powell River had about 14,947 residents in July 2025, Statistics Canada estimates; the 2021 Census counted 13,943, 6% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Powell River?
A median age of 53.2, older than 92% of Canadian towns. Children under 15 make up 13%, and people 65 and over 31%.
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).