Photo: Asahel Curtis · Public domainIn Quesnel, 14% of residents have an Indigenous identity, more than in 92% of Canadian towns
Half of Quesnel’s residents are over 45.6, older than in 71% of Canadian towns. With about 10,253 residents in July 2025, Quesnel counted 4,510 households at the 2021 Census. For Quesnel, the census puts one-person households at 38%. Residents aged 65 and over: 23% here and 19% across Canada’s towns.
What stands out about the people of Quesnel
First Nations, Métis and Inuit residents
An Indigenous identity is reported by 14% of residents, more than in 92% of Canadian towns, and 4.9% are Registered or Treaty Indians. Identity & religion ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
A change of ±0% since 2016 leaves Quesnel behind 76% of Canadian towns
Every figure here comes from the 2021 Census unless it carries another date. The census counts of 2016 and 2021, the estimate after them, and the change set beside other towns.
Change, 2016 to 2021
The July 2025 estimate adds another 4%.
Fewer children under 15 than 57% of Canadian towns: 15%
Every five-year age group as a share of residents; ticks mark the typical town.
More residents are 60–64 than any other five-year age: 7.8% of residents. For comparison, 16% of residents are under 15 across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Quesnel, 45.6. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women.
Quesnel households average 2.2 people, smaller than in 74% of Canadian towns
Private households by type and size.
Against British Columbia’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
One in ten households are one-parent families (Canada’s towns: 8.2%).
39% of residents 15 and over are married, below 70% of Canadian towns
How adults live as couples, or don’t, with common-law unions shown on their own.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
28% of adults are single and have never married; the typical town has 27%. On common-law partners, Quesnel sits higher than nearly two thirds of Canadian towns: 13%. To put it in context, 46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns.
More renter households than 72% of Canadian towns: 38%
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
The share of households in single-detached houses is 60%, against 64% across Canada’s towns. Older homes outnumber new: 16% predate 1961, 9% date from 2001 or later. Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in nearly three quarters of Canadian towns. The comparison figure for renter households is 25% across Canada’s towns.
$67,000 a year is the median household income here
Census incomes cover 2020, when emergency benefits like CERB lifted many households’ totals. What households took in before tax, at the middle and across income groups.
Households by income · share of households
At $67,000, the middle household in Quesnel earned 22% less than the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Within British Columbia’s towns, the household in the middle had $87,000. The pandemic’s benefits: 27% of income recipients, against 28% in the typical town.
In Quesnel, 12% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, more than in 62% of Canadian towns
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 (39%) or in Asia (35%). At 8.3%, the share of immigrants is lower than in 69% of Canadian towns. Across Canada’s towns, residents who moved in within the year come to 11%. Recent arrivals are 22% of immigrants (2011 to 2021), beside 27% across Canada’s towns.
Quesnel: 63% of residents said they have no religion, above 97% 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, 7.2% of residents belong to a visible minority in Quesnel. For comparison, just over a third of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns.
English is the mother tongue of 91%, and 3.2% speak French as well
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
At 0.9%, residents whose mother tongue is French sit close to the figure across Canada’s towns. Fewer bilingual residents than in 93% of Canadian towns: 3.2%.
A lower share of degree holders aged 25 to 64 than 79% of Canadian towns, at 16%
From no certificate to a master’s: residents 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Across Canada’s towns, 27% of 25- to 64-year-olds hold a degree; in Quesnel, 16%, and 31% have a college or trades credential (typical: 29%). Those with no credential make up 17%, next to 9.5% in the typical town.
49% of adults were employed in May 2021
The census counted work in May 2021, mid-pandemic, so read these rates as a pandemic snapshot. Four labour figures from the census. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
49% of residents 15 and over have a job, against a typical 58% across Canada’s towns; 23% are 65 or more.
Oldest by rank: 11th of 41 towns of 10,062 to 10,445 people
Towns of about this size, placed by median age.
At one end is Mount Pleasant North (33.2), at the other Leeds and the Thousand Islands (52). Next to Quesnel on this scale come Masonville (44.5), Lac-des-Fées (44.8), East St. Paul (46.8) and Markham Village (47.3).
Quesnel is younger than every town around it
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each links to its own page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quesnel | 10,253 | — | 45.6 | 23% | 8.3% |
| Electoral Area A, Cariboo | 6,172 | 5.5 km | 46.4 | 22% | 5.6% |
| Electoral Area I, Cariboo | 1,707 | 10.5 km | 52.4 | 25% | 6.7% |
| Electoral Area C, Cariboo | 1,289 | 10.7 km | 49.6 | 24% | 5.8% |
| Electoral Area B, Cariboo | 4,169 | 11.1 km | 48.8 | 22% | 8.7% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. 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. 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.
Questions about Quesnel’s residents
What is the population of Quesnel?
About 10,253, by Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025. The 2021 Census found 9,889 people in Quesnel, about the same as 2016.
What is the average age in Quesnel?
The median age is 45.6, older than 71% of Canadian towns. 15% are under 15 and 23% 65 or older.
Is Quesnel bilingual?
Both official languages are spoken by 3.2% of residents, against a typical 7.5% across Canada’s towns. 96% speak only English and 0% only French; 0.9% grew up with French.
How diverse is Quesnel?
Immigrants: 8.3% (Canada’s towns: 17%). Visible minority: 7.2%. Indigenous identity: 14%.
What religion are people in Quesnel?
63% said they have no religion and 34% that they are Christian; 3.8% named another faith.
Is Quesnel good for families?
15% of residents are under 15 (Canada’s towns: 16%); couple families are 42% of households and one-parent families 9.8%. Schools near Quesnel are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Quesnel?
Half of Quesnel’s households had more than $67,000 in 2020, before tax; across Canada’s towns the median was $86,000.
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).