Photo: DJ Cane · CC BY-SA 4.050% of residents said they have no religion, a share 87% of Canadian towns don’t reach
Across Canada’s towns, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 is 11%; Sunnyside has 8.2%. On immigrants, Sunnyside sits higher than 80% of Canadian towns: 36%. The 2021 Census counted 16,784 residents in 6,875 households. Here, 27% of households live in a single-detached house.
More residents aged 65 and over than 73% of Canadian towns: 23%
All figures are the 2021 Census’s unless another date is shown. Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
Children under 15 make up 17%, against 16% across Canada’s towns. Across the comparison, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns. No age band is larger than 35–39: 8% of residents. Half of Sunnyside’s residents are over 43.4, older than in 58% of Canadian towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Sunnyside, 43.4. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 87 men for every 100 women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Sunnyside ranks above 73% of Canadian towns on one-parent families: 9.8%
Household types, then household sizes.
Against British Columbia’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
Households in Sunnyside hold 2.4 people on average (Canada’s towns: 2.4). For comparison, 8.2% of households are one-parent families across Canada’s towns. Here, 28% of households are one person living alone.
Below 75% of Canadian towns: 7.7% of residents 15 and over live common-law
Marital status of residents 15 and over, with common-law couples counted apart.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Single and never married: a fifth of adults, against a typical 27%. Across Canada’s towns, common-law partners come to 11%. In Sunnyside, 54% of residents 15 and over are married.
Sunnyside sits below 58% of Canadian towns for renter households (22%)
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
With households in buildings of five or more storeys at 1.6%, Sunnyside is ahead of 63% of Canadian towns on that count. Set beside that, a quarter of households rent their home across Canada’s towns. Newer homes outnumber old: 59% date from 2001 or later, 1.2% from before 1961.
$90,100 a year: the median household income
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 $90,100, the middle household in Sunnyside earned close to the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). The median across British Columbia’s towns is $87,000. The pandemic’s benefits: 26% of income recipients, against 28% in the typical town.
Sunnyside sits above 80% of Canadian towns for residents who moved in within the year (15%)
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 45%
When immigrants arrived · share of immigrants
Citizenship and moving · share of residents
Residents without Canadian citizenship: 13%, above just over three quarters of Canadian towns. Against that, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns. The largest groups of immigrants were born in Asia (62%) and in Europe (23%).
Sunnyside ranks above 78% of Canadian towns on visible minority residents: 40%
Visible minority and Indigenous identity, then religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Other faiths: Sikh (3.6%) and Muslim (2.9%). Compared with other places, Indigenous residents are scarce here: 1.8%, fewer than in nearly two thirds of Canadian towns. The share of visible minority residents across Canada’s towns is 15%.
English is the mother tongue of 62%, and 6.4% speak French as well
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
Residents whose mother tongue is French: 1%, near enough the figure across Canada’s towns. At home: English 75%, French 0.3%.
A larger share of degree holders aged 25 to 64 than 74% of Canadian towns: 42%
Highest certificate, diploma or degree of residents aged 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Across Canada’s towns, 27% of 25- to 64-year-olds hold a degree; in Sunnyside, 42%, and 25% have a college or trades credential (typical: 29%). Those with no credential make up 4.1%, next to 9.5% in the typical town.
Employment: 57% of residents 15 and over had a job
The census was taken in May 2021, during the pandemic, so these rates show a labour market still recovering. The census’s work rates at a glance. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
Employment here, 57%, matches the middle of Canada’s towns (58%) within a couple of points.
Ranked by age, 11th oldest of 41 towns this size
Similar-sized towns by median age; each dot is a town.
At one end is Summerside (33.6), at the other Saint-Charles-Borromée (57.2). By median age, Sunnyside sits among Leduc County (42.8), East Burnaby (43), Leaside-Bennington (44.6) and Stayner (44.8).
Around Sunnyside, 4 of 6 towns have a higher median age
The closest towns, coloured by how old their residents are.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunnyside | 16,784 | — | 43.4 | 23% | 36% |
| Semiahmoo Town Centre | 13,381 | 1.7 km | 52.9 | 33% | 34% |
| South Surrey | 6,431 | 1.9 km | 48.3 | 25% | 41% |
| Grandview | 16,947 | 2.1 km | 39.9 | 16% | 37% |
| Morgan Creek | 8,084 | 2.1 km | 44.8 | 21% | 34% |
| Anderson Walk | 4,210 | 2.2 km | 39.9 | 15% | 37% |
| White Rock | 25,057 | 2.6 km | 58 | 37% | 29% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The census’s own words. “Visible minority” is the census’s term from the Employment Equity Act: people, other than Indigenous peoples, who are non-white in colour or race. Indigenous identity, immigrant status and religion are as residents answered. The page compares them with other towns and never labels a town by them.
- 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.
- Neighbourhoods are sums of small areas. There is no census profile for a neighbourhood, so we add up the dissemination areas inside it. Each count is a sum of Statistics Canada’s rounded counts, the median age and income come from the published groups, and with 2016’s areas drawn differently there is no 2016 count.
- 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.
Questions about Sunnyside’s residents
What religion are people in Sunnyside?
38% are Christian and 50% have no religion; 12% follow another religion.
Is Sunnyside good for families?
Under 15: 17% (Canada’s towns: 16%). Couple families: 54% of households. One-parent families: 9.8%. Schools near Sunnyside are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Sunnyside?
The median household in Sunnyside took in $90,100 in 2020, against $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Sunnyside?
Sunnyside had 16,784 residents at the 2021 Census.
What is the average age in Sunnyside?
A median age of 43.4, older than 58% of Canadian towns. Children under 15 make up 17%, and people 65 and over 23%.
Is Sunnyside bilingual?
Both official languages are spoken by 6.4% of residents, against a typical 7.5% across Canada’s towns. 90% speak only English and 0% only French; 1% grew up with French.
How diverse is Sunnyside?
36% of residents are immigrants (Canada’s towns: 17%); 40% belong to a visible minority and 1.8% have an Indigenous identity.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population. 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).