Photo: The original uploader was RandyMac at English Wikipedia . · CC BY-SA 3.0Older than 84% of Canadian towns: half of Trail is over 49.6
Residents with no religion make up 51%, against 35% across Canada’s towns. Statistics Canada puts Trail’s population at 8,539 for July 2025. For Trail, the census puts children under 15 at 13%. More renter households than in just over three fifths of Canadian towns: 31%.
What stands out about the people of Trail
Many older residents
28% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 88% of Canadian towns; 7.5% are 80 or over, and 39% of households are one person living alone. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Slower than most: +3% since 2016, behind 59% of Canadian towns
Unless a figure says otherwise, it is from the 2021 Census. Residents at the 2016 and 2021 censuses and the latest estimate, with the 2016–2021 change beside other towns.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Medians for comparison: +4% across Canada’s towns; +6% across British Columbia’s towns. Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025 is 8% higher again.
Above 88% of Canadian towns: 28% of residents are 65 or over
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
The share of residents aged 15 to 24 is 9.2%, against 11% across Canada’s towns. As a yardstick, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Trail, 49.6. 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. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
A larger share of one-person households than 88% of Canadian towns: 39%
Who shares a home: household types and sizes.
Against British Columbia’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
The typical household size is 2 people, against 2.4 across Canada’s towns. The census found that 9.1% of households are one-parent families in Trail. The usual figure: 27% of households are one person living alone across Canada’s towns.
A smaller share of married residents 15 and over than 68% of Canadian towns: 40%
Marital status of residents 15 and over, with common-law couples counted apart.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Singles who have never married make up 27% of adults, beside a typical 27%. By way of comparison, 46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns. The share of common-law partners stands at 11%.
Above 59% of Canadian towns: 70% of households live in a single-detached house
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
63% of homes were built before 1961 and 4.3% in 2001 or later. Across Canada’s towns, households in single-detached houses come to 64%. Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in 74% of Canadian towns.
Half of households earn more than $68,000 a year
Census incomes cover 2020, when emergency benefits like CERB lifted many households’ totals. Total household income: the median household, and the spread from low to high.
Households by income · share of households
The middle household in Trail had $68,000 before tax, 21% below the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Household incomes across British Columbia’s towns have a median of $87,000. The pandemic’s benefits: 22% of income recipients, against 28% in the typical town.
Above 61% of Canadian towns: 12% of residents lived at another address a year earlier
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
The figure for immigrants is 9.2% in Trail and 17% across Canada’s towns. For residents who moved in within the year, the comparison across Canada’s towns is 11%. Most immigrants were born in Europe (54%) or in Asia (24%).
In Trail, 8.9% of residents have an Indigenous identity, more than in 85% of Canadian towns
Residents’ own answers on visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Visible minority residents make up 6.6%, against 15% across Canada’s towns. Across Canada’s towns, Indigenous residents come to 2.8%.
90% have English as their mother tongue; 2.9% 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
Residents whose mother tongue is French make up 0.7%, close to the figure across Canada’s towns. Lower than in 95% of Canadian towns: 2.9% of residents speak English and French.
15% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, fewer than in 81% of Canadian towns
The highest diploma or degree of adults of working age (25 to 64).
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Holding no credential: 8.8% (typical 9.5%). As a yardstick, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
In work on census day: 49% of adults
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.
The employment rate of 49% is below the typical 58% across Canada’s towns; 28% of residents are 65 or over.
Ranked by age, 5th oldest of 41 towns this size
Similar-sized towns by median age; each dot is a town.
Electoral Area G, Nanaimo is the oldest at 60.8, Garneau the youngest at 30.2. The closest ages to Trail’s belong to Brownsburg-Chatham (48.4), Puslinch (49.2), Goderich (52.8) and Muskoka Lakes (57.2).
Nearby, 2 of 6 towns have older populations than Trail
Places nearby, shaded by median age, each linked to its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trail | 8,539 | — | 49.6 | 28% | 9.2% |
| Warfield | 1,729 | 4.2 km | 44.8 | 23% | 6.9% |
| Montrose | 1,072 | 7.8 km | 44.8 | 24% | 6.9% |
| Rossland | 4,355 | 7.8 km | 40.8 | 16% | 12% |
| Fruitvale | 2,068 | 10.6 km | 50 | 27% | 7.1% |
| Electoral Area A, Kootenay Boundary | 2,008 | 11.7 km | 49.2 | 23% | 2.8% |
| Electoral Area B (Lower Columbia-Old-Glory), Kootenay Boundary | 1,432 | 12.6 km | 55.6 | 28% | 6.7% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The census’s own words. These are self-reported answers: Indigenous identity, immigrant status, religion. The census’s “visible minority” comes from the Employment Equity Act (non-white in colour or race, Indigenous peoples aside), and the page sets each beside other towns without labelling any.
- Against British Columbia’s towns and Canada’s towns. Two medians frame each figure: one for British Columbia’s towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, one for all Canadian towns of that size, with whole cities and First Nations reserves left out. Percentiles rank the town within Canada.
- What these tables don’t give. Unpaid care, car ownership and internet access aren’t in the Census Profile, nor is the change by age since 2016. Ethnic origins other than visible minority and Indigenous identity are left out of the charts.
Questions about Trail’s residents
What is the population of Trail?
The latest figure is an estimate: 8,539 residents in July 2025. At the 2021 Census, Trail counted 7,920, 3% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Trail?
Half the residents are older than 49.6 and half younger, older than 84% of Canadian towns; 13% are children under 15 and 28% are 65 or over.
Is Trail bilingual?
English and French: 2.9% speak both (Canada’s towns: 7.5%). English only: 97%. French only: 0%. French mother tongue: 0.7%.
How diverse is Trail?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 17% are immigrants; here, 9.2%. A visible minority makes up 6.6% and Indigenous residents 8.9%.
What religion are people in Trail?
Most often Christian (46%) or no religion (51%); other religions make up 3.6%.
Is Trail good for families?
Children under 15 are 13% of residents, against 16% across Canada’s towns. Couple families make up 43% of households and one-parent families 9.1%. Schools near Trail are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Trail?
Median total household income in Trail was $68,000 in 2020, against a median of $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
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).