Photo: Shawn from Airdrie, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.011% of residents have an Indigenous identity, a share 87% of Canadian towns don’t reach
One-person households: 34%, above three quarters of Canadian towns. At 18%, the share of children under 15 is higher than in 72% of Canadian towns. Statistics Canada puts Smithers’s population at 5,627 for July 2025. In Smithers, 29% of households rent their home.
Smithers changed by ±0% from 2016 to 2021, behind 80% of Canadian towns
All figures are the 2021 Census’s unless another date is shown. Residents at the 2016 and 2021 censuses and the latest estimate, with the 2016–2021 change beside other towns.
Change, 2016 to 2021
By July 2025, the estimate had risen a further 5%. Across Canada’s towns, the typical town changed +4%; across British Columbia’s towns, +6%.
A median age of 39.6: Smithers is younger than 66% of Canadian towns
Every five-year age group as a share of residents; ticks mark the typical town.
No age band is larger than 30–34: 7.9% of residents, 1.3 times the share across Canada’s towns. On the census count, 18% of residents are 65 or over.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Smithers, 39.6. 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.
Households here average 2.3 people, below 64% of Canadian towns
Who shares a home: household types and sizes.
Against British Columbia’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
One-parent families: 8.4% of the total.
Above 65% of Canadian towns: 13% of residents 15 and over live common-law
How adults live as couples, or don’t, with common-law unions shown on their own.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns, against 43% in Smithers. Across Canada’s towns, the share of common-law partners is 11%.
Below 51% of Canadian towns: 63% of households live in a single-detached house
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
Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in 74% of Canadian towns. As a reference point, 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns. Older homes outnumber new: 15% predate 1961, 15% date from 2001 or later.
$85,000 a year is the median household income here
Incomes are 2020’s, the census’s reference year, and include pandemic benefits such as CERB. What households took in before tax, at the middle and across income groups.
Households by income · share of households
At $85,000, the middle household in Smithers earned close to the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). The middle household across British Columbia’s towns has $87,000 before tax. Pandemic payments such as CERB reached 23% of income recipients here, against 28% in the typical town.
6.5% of residents are not Canadian citizens, more than in 54% 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
Recent arrivals, from 2011 to 2021, are 31% of immigrants (typical: 27%); non-permanent residents add 2.9% of residents. Across the comparison, 5.8% of residents are not Canadian citizens across Canada’s towns. Immigrants here were most often born in Europe (49%), then in Asia (26%). 11% lived at another address a year earlier, more than the typical 11% across Canada’s towns.
A higher share of residents with no religion than 90% of Canadian towns, at 53%
Residents’ own answers on visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Across Canada’s towns, 15% of residents belong to a visible minority; in Smithers, 10%. By way of comparison, 35% of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns.
86% have English as their mother tongue; 6.6% also speak French
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 home: English 94%, French 0.5%. Smithers has fewer residents whose mother tongue is French than 62% of Canadian towns, at 1.2%.
Smithers sits above 57% of Canadian towns for degree holders aged 25 to 64 (30%)
The highest diploma or degree of adults of working age (25 to 64).
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Holding no credential: 8.4% (typical 9.5%). Typically, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
67% of residents 15 and over were in work
Census day was in May 2021, mid-pandemic: some of these rates are lower than in a usual year. Four labour figures from the census. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
More people work here than in the typical town: 67%, against 58% across Canada’s towns.
The 16th youngest of 41 towns of 5,533 to 5,729 people
Towns of about this size, placed by median age.
Median ages climb from 27.8 (Montcalm) to 63.2 (Osoyoos) across the group. In age, Smithers keeps company with Greenboro West (37.9), Saint-Roch-de-l'Achigan (38.8), Coral Springs (40.6) and Wolfville (41.6).
Older than Smithers: 1 of the 2 towns nearby
Places nearby, shaded by median age, each linked to its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smithers | 5,627 | — | 39.6 | 18% | 13% |
| Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako | 5,829 | 4.2 km | 41.2 | 17% | 11% |
| Telkwa | 1,544 | 13.3 km | 35.6 | 13% | 9.5% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- 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.
Questions about Smithers’s residents
Is Smithers good for families?
Across Canada’s towns, a typical 16% of residents are under 15; here, 18%. 48% of households are couple families and 8.4% one-parent families. Schools near Smithers are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Smithers?
$85,000 before tax, in 2020: the middle household’s income in Smithers (Canada’s towns: $86,000).
What is the population of Smithers?
Statistics Canada estimates 5,627 residents for July 2025; the 2021 Census counted 5,378 in Smithers, about the same as 2016.
What is the average age in Smithers?
39.6 is the median age, younger than 66% of Canadian towns. Under 15: 18%. 65 and over: 18%.
Is Smithers bilingual?
English and French: 6.6% speak both (Canada’s towns: 7.5%). English only: 93%. French only: 0%. French mother tongue: 1.2%.
How diverse is Smithers?
Immigrants make up 13% of residents, against 17% across Canada’s towns. 10% are members of a visible minority, and 11% are First Nations, Métis or Inuit.
What religion are people in Smithers?
Christian: 44%. No religion: 53%. Another religion: 3.6%.
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).