Photo: Fralambert · CC BY-SA 3.0Haut-Madawaska sits below 98% of Canadian towns for residents with no religion (9.6%)
With a median age of 49.6, Haut-Madawaska is older than 84% of Canadian towns. Statistics Canada puts the town’s population at 4,098 for July 2025. 4.7% of residents lived at another address a year earlier. By its share of children under 15 (13%), Haut-Madawaska is below nearly four fifths of Canadian towns.
What stands out about the people of Haut-Madawaska
A French-speaking community
91% of residents have French as their mother tongue, more than in 90% of Canadian towns; 52% speak both official languages and 93% speak French most often at home. English & French ↓
A bilingual town
Both official languages: 52% of residents speak English and French, more than in 91% of Canadian towns. Another 46% speak only French and 2.5% only English. English & French ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Above 91% of Canadian towns: 52% of residents speak English and French
All figures are the 2021 Census’s unless another date is shown. 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
Compared with 1.5% across Canada’s towns, just over nine in ten residents have French as their mother tongue here. Across Canada’s towns, bilingual residents come to 7.5%. At home: English 4.9%, French 93%.
From 2016 to 2021, 76% of Canadian towns grew faster than Haut-Madawaska: ±0%
How the population moved between the last two censuses, and since.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025 is 10% higher again. Medians for comparison: +4% across Canada’s towns; +3% across New Brunswick’s towns.
More residents aged 65 and over than 74% of Canadian towns: 23%
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: one in ten residents, 1.5 times the share across Canada’s towns. To put it in context, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns. In Haut-Madawaska, 9.3% of residents are aged 15 to 24.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Haut-Madawaska, 49.6. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 110 men for every 100 women.
Haut-Madawaska households average 2.2 people, smaller than in 74% of Canadian towns
Private households by type and size.
Against New Brunswick’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
Set against 27% across Canada’s towns, 30% of households are one person living alone in Haut-Madawaska. 6.9% of households are one-parent families, fewer than in 71% of Canadian towns.
A larger share of common-law partners than 84% of Canadian towns: 20%
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 Haut-Madawaska. The benchmark for common-law partners across Canada’s towns: 11%.
More households in single-detached houses than 66% of Canadian towns: 76%
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
31% of homes were built before 1961 and 12% in 2001 or later. Lower than in 61% of Canadian towns: 21% of households rent their home. To put it in context, 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns. Households in buildings of five or more storeys are about as common here as across Canada’s towns: 0.3%.
Household income at the median: $65,000 a year
Incomes are 2020’s, the census’s reference year, and include pandemic benefits such as CERB. Household income before tax: the median, and households by income group.
Households by income · share of households
At $65,000, the middle household in Haut-Madawaska earned 24% less than the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Across New Brunswick’s towns the median is $73,300. Pandemic payments such as CERB reached 22% of income recipients here, against 28% in the typical town.
6.7% of residents are immigrants
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
Set against 17% across Canada’s towns, 6.7% of residents are immigrants in Haut-Madawaska. Immigrants here were most often born in the Americas (83%), then in Africa (10%).
90% said they are Christian and 9.6% that they have no religion
Visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion, as residents answered the census.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Visible minority residents: 4.3%, below 71% of Canadian towns. On the census count, 1.8% of residents have an Indigenous identity.
Below 90% of Canadian towns: 12% 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, 21% hold no certificate of any kind, against 9.5% in the typical town. As a reference point, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
In work on census day: 57% of adults
May 2021 was still a pandemic month: the census’s work figures reflect that. Four labour figures from the census. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
The employment rate of 57% is close to the typical 58% across Canada’s towns.
Oldest by rank: 9th of 41 towns of 4,030 to 4,165 people
Towns of about this size, placed by median age.
Median ages here range from 29 in Mistissini to 58.4 in Alexander. In age, Haut-Madawaska keeps company with Beaumaris (47.5), McCauley (47.5), Saint-Ferréol-les-Neiges (50.4) and Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs (53.2).
2 of the 3 nearest towns are older than Haut-Madawaska
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each links to its own page. No closer places have figures: these lie 24–30 km from Haut-Madawaska.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Haut-Madawaska | 4,098 | — | 49.6 | 23% | 6.7% |
| Edmundston | 18,174 | 24.3 km | 54 | 31% | 3.9% |
| Saint-Jacques | 1,763 | 26.6 km | 52.4 | 24% | 2.7% |
| Saint-Joseph | 1,641 | 30.0 km | 48.8 | 22% | 1.3% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The census’s own words. Indigenous identity, immigrant status and religion are as residents answered them. “Visible minority” follows the Employment Equity Act, meaning people other than Indigenous peoples who are non-white in colour or race. We compare these figures across towns; none is a label for a town.
- Against New Brunswick’s towns and Canada’s towns. Provincial and national yardsticks: New Brunswick’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. Missing from the census as published: unpaid care, cars and internet access, and the shift in each age band since 2016. Ethnic origins past visible minority and Indigenous identity aren’t charted here.
Questions about Haut-Madawaska’s residents
Is Haut-Madawaska bilingual?
52% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 46% speak French only and 2.5% English only. French is the mother tongue of 91%.
How diverse is Haut-Madawaska?
Immigrants make up 6.7% of residents, against 17% across Canada’s towns. 4.3% are members of a visible minority, and 1.8% are First Nations, Métis or Inuit.
What religion are people in Haut-Madawaska?
Christian: 90%. No religion: 9.6%. Another religion: 0.7%.
Is Haut-Madawaska good for families?
Across Canada’s towns, a typical 16% of residents are under 15; here, 13%. 58% of households are couple families and 6.9% one-parent families. Schools near Haut-Madawaska are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Haut-Madawaska?
$65,000 before tax, in 2020: the middle household’s income in Haut-Madawaska (Canada’s towns: $86,000).
What is the population of Haut-Madawaska?
Statistics Canada estimates 4,098 residents for July 2025; the 2021 Census counted 3,720 in Haut-Madawaska, about the same as 2016.
What is the average age in Haut-Madawaska?
49.6 is the median age, older than 84% of Canadian towns. Under 15: 13%. 65 and over: 23%.
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).