Photo: Michal Klajban · CC BY-SA 4.09.2% of residents are under 15, below 96% of Canadian towns
Where 35% of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns, Victoria has 63%. Higher than in 88% of Canadian towns: 22% of households live in a building of five or more storeys. With about 103,888 residents in July 2025, Victoria counted 49,225 households at the 2021 Census. The share of one-parent families stands at 5.7%.
What stands out about the people of Victoria
Many people living alone
49% of households are one person living alone, more than in 96% of Canadian towns; 23% of residents are 65 or over. Households ↓
A town of renters
Renters are 61% of households, more than in 91% of Canadian towns, and 79% of households live in an apartment. Homes ↓
A town people move to
A year before the census, 20% of residents lived elsewhere, 1.8 times the typical share; over five years, 53% moved. Immigrants & newcomers ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
A +7% change since 2016: Victoria grew faster than 68% of Canadian towns
The 2021 Census is the source of every figure here unless a date says otherwise. How the population moved between the last two censuses, and since.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Across Canada’s towns the median change is +4%; across British Columbia’s towns, +6%. Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025 is 13% higher again.
Above 73% of Canadian towns: 23% of residents are 65 or over
Age bands of five years, the town’s bars against the typical town’s ticks.
In Victoria, nearly one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24, beside 11% across Canada’s towns. On average, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns. With a median age of 42.8, Victoria is older than 54% of Canadian towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Victoria, 42.8. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 men for every 100 women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
In Victoria, 49% of households are one person living alone, more than in 96% 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 typical household size is 1.8 people, against 2.4 across Canada’s towns. Shared houses stand out: 7.5% of households are unrelated adults living together, more than in 89% of Canadian towns. One-person households: 27% across Canada’s towns, for comparison.
31% of residents 15 and over are married, below 84% of Canadian towns
Residents 15 and over by marital status; the census counts common-law couples separately.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Compared with 11% across Canada’s towns, 15% of residents 15 and over live common-law here. Never married and not common-law: just over a third of adults (typical: 27%).
More renter households than 91% of Canadian towns: 61%
Occupied homes by type, by owners and renters, and by when they were built. 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: 31% predate 1961, 18% date from 2001 or later. The benchmark for renter households across Canada’s towns: 25%. Households in single-detached houses are rarer here than in 92% of Canadian towns.
Median household income: $67,500 a year
The census asked about income in 2020: a pandemic year, with CERB and other emergency benefits counted in. Household income before tax: the median, and households by income group.
Households by income · share of households
The median across Canada’s towns is $86,000; Victoria’s, at $67,500, is 22% lower. Within British Columbia’s towns, the household in the middle had $87,000. Pandemic payments such as CERB reached 28% of income recipients here, against 28% in the typical town.
Residents who moved in within the year make up 20% in Victoria, more than in 93% of Canadian towns
Immigrants, newcomers and movers.
Immigrants, by continent of birth · share of all residents; the bar runs to 25%
When immigrants arrived · share of immigrants
Citizenship and moving · share of residents
17% of residents are immigrants across Canada’s towns, against 20% in Victoria. The wider picture: just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns. Locally, 8.9% of residents are not Canadian citizens.
Above 70% of Canadian towns: 5% of residents have an Indigenous identity
Visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion, as residents answered the census.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
The census found that 17% of residents belong to a visible minority in Victoria. For comparison, 2.8% of residents have an Indigenous identity across Canada’s towns.
In Victoria, 13% of residents speak English and French, more than in 68% of Canadian towns
Knowledge of the two official languages, first languages, and the language of home.
Can hold a conversation in · share of all residents
Mother tongue · share of all residents
Residents whose mother tongue is French are about as common here as across Canada’s towns, at 1.9%. Set beside that, 7.5% of residents speak English and French across Canada’s towns. At home, 6.1% mostly speak another language; 0.8% speak neither English nor French.
Above 83% of Canadian towns: 48% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher
From no certificate to a master’s: residents 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
At the bottom of the ladder, 5.5% hold no certificate of any kind, against 9.5% in the typical town. Across the comparison, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
A job for 62% of residents aged 15 and over
May 2021 was still a pandemic month: the census’s work figures reflect that. The census’s labour rates, in brief. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
The employment rate of 62% is above the typical 58% across Canada’s towns.
In its size band (75,618 to 142,450), the 20th oldest of 41 towns
Median age of the Canadian towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
Between Fort McMurray (34.4) and Lindsay (51.6) lies the rest of the group. The closest ages to Victoria’s belong to Strathcona County (42.4), Brossard (42.8), Peterborough (43.2) and Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu (43.6).
Among its 6 nearest neighbours, 5 are older than Victoria
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each links to its own page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victoria | 103,888 | — | 42.8 | 23% | 20% |
| Oak Bay | 18,626 | 3.2 km | 54.4 | 34% | 22% |
| Esquimalt | 19,512 | 3.9 km | 43.2 | 21% | 15% |
| Saanich | 126,011 | 5.1 km | 44.4 | 23% | 23% |
| New Songhees 1A | 2,052 | 5.5 km | 50 | 28% | 11% |
| View Royal | 12,795 | 7.5 km | 44.8 | 21% | 18% |
| Colwood | 22,794 | 10.0 km | 42.4 | 19% | 13% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. A figure here is set beside two middles, the median across British Columbia’s places of 2,500 people or more and the median across all Canadian towns that size; reserves and entire cities are excluded from both.
- What these tables don’t give. Not in the Census Profile: unpaid care, cars, internet access, and how each age group has changed since 2016. We also chart no ethnic origins besides visible minority and Indigenous identity.
Questions about Victoria’s residents
How diverse is Victoria?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 17% are immigrants; here, 20%. A visible minority makes up 17% and Indigenous residents 5%.
What religion are people in Victoria?
Most often Christian (28%) or no religion (63%); other religions make up 8.2%.
Is Victoria good for families?
Children under 15 are 9.2% of residents, against 16% across Canada’s towns. Couple families make up 35% of households and one-parent families 5.7%. Schools near Victoria are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Victoria?
Median total household income in Victoria was $67,500 in 2020, against a median of $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Victoria?
The latest figure is an estimate: 103,888 residents in July 2025. At the 2021 Census, Victoria counted 91,867, 7% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Victoria?
Half the residents are older than 42.8 and half younger, older than 54% of Canadian towns; 9.2% are children under 15 and 23% are 65 or over.
Is Victoria bilingual?
13% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 0% speak French only and 86% English only. French is the mother tongue of 1.9%.
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).