Photo: Dan Fleet at English Wikipedia · Public domainMore Indigenous residents than 91% of Canadian towns: 13%
77% of immigrants arrived between 2011 and 2021, against 27% across Canada’s towns. With about 2,105 residents in July 2025, Wabush counted 795 households at the 2021 Census. Census figures put residents aged 65 and over at 11% in the town. The median age in the town is 36.8, lower than in 83% of Canadian towns.
What stands out about the people of Wabush
First Nations, Métis and Inuit residents
13% of residents identify as First Nations, Métis or Inuit, more than in 91% of Canadian towns; 4.3% are Registered or Treaty Indians. Identity & religion ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Slower growth than 57% of Canadian towns: Wabush changed by +3% since 2016
Figures are from the 2021 Census unless dated otherwise. How the population moved between the last two censuses, and since.
Change, 2016 to 2021
The July 2025 estimate adds another 7%. Across Canada’s towns the median change is +4%; across Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns, −2%.
20% of residents are under 15, more than in 82% of Canadian towns
Residents by five-year age band, each beside the typical town (the tick).
Compared with 11% across Canada’s towns, just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24 here. No age band is larger than 45–49: nearly one in ten residents, 1.4 times the share across Canada’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About 104 men for every 100 women.
In Wabush, 24% of households are one person living alone, fewer than in 61% of Canadian towns
Households by family type and by the number of people in them.
Against Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
A household here has 2.5 people on average; across Canada’s towns, 2.4. In Wabush, nearly one in ten households are one-parent families. One-person households make up 27% across Canada’s towns.
Wabush: 20% of residents 15 and over live common-law, above 84% of Canadian towns
Married, common-law, single: residents 15 and over.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns, against 48% in Wabush. Common-law partners: 11% across Canada’s towns, for comparison.
Wabush sits below 70% of Canadian towns for renter households (17%)
Dwelling types, tenure and age of the housing. 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 nearly three quarters of Canadian towns. Renter households: 25% across Canada’s towns, for comparison. Locally, 53% of households live in a single-detached house.
Household income at the median: $151,000 a year
Incomes are 2020’s, the census’s reference year, and include pandemic benefits such as CERB. Total household income: the median household, and the spread from low to high.
Households by income · share of households
Half of Wabush’s households had a total income above $151,000, 76% more than the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). The figure for Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns: $63,600. COVID-19 benefits were paid to 20% of residents with an income, where the typical town had 28%.
Wabush: 14% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, above 71% of Canadian towns
Where immigrants were born and when they came, and how recently residents moved in.
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
Immigrants here were most often born in Europe (39%), then in Africa (31%). 3.3% of residents are immigrants, fewer than in 88% of Canadian towns. For comparison, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns. By its share of residents without Canadian citizenship (2.3%), Wabush is below 72% of Canadian towns.
Below 81% of Canadian towns: 23% of residents said they have no religion
Identity and faith, in the census’s categories.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
By its share of visible minority residents (2.3%), Wabush is below just over four fifths of Canadian towns. Elsewhere, just over a third of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns.
Above 66% of Canadian towns: 13% of residents speak English and French
The official languages residents can speak, and the ones they learned first.
Can hold a conversation in · share of all residents
Mother tongue · share of all residents
At home: English 97%, French 1.8%. Compared with other places, residents whose mother tongue is French are common here: 2.5%, more than in nearly two thirds of Canadian towns. As a yardstick, 7.5% of residents speak English and French across Canada’s towns.
Below 79% of Canadian towns: 16% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher
Education of residents 25 to 64, by highest credential.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
At the bottom of the ladder, 4.8% hold no certificate of any kind, against 9.5% in the typical town. For comparison, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
A job for 73% of residents aged 15 and over
Census day was in May 2021, mid-pandemic: some of these rates are lower than in a usual year. Work, briefly: employment, unemployment, participation and working from home. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
The employment rate of 73% is above the typical 58% across Canada’s towns.
Around Wabush, 1 of 2 towns have a higher median age
Neighbouring places and their median ages; each name opens its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wabush | 2,105 | — | 36.8 | 11% | 3.3% |
| Labrador City | 7,965 | 5.7 km | 38.4 | 11% | 6.2% |
| Fermont | 2,129 | 19.1 km | 34 | 3.8% | 3.5% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- 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 Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns and Canada’s towns. Provincial and national yardsticks: Newfoundland and Labrador’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.
Questions about Wabush’s residents
Is Wabush bilingual?
13% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 0.3% speak French only and 87% English only. French is the mother tongue of 2.5%.
How diverse is Wabush?
Immigrants: 3.3% (Canada’s towns: 17%). Visible minority: 2.3%. Indigenous identity: 13%.
What religion are people in Wabush?
23% said they have no religion and 75% that they are Christian; 1.5% named another faith.
Is Wabush good for families?
20% of residents are under 15 (Canada’s towns: 16%); couple families are 63% of households and one-parent families 8.1%. Schools near Wabush are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Wabush?
Half of Wabush’s households had more than $151,000 in 2020, before tax; across Canada’s towns the median was $86,000.
What is the population of Wabush?
About 2,105, by Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025. The 2021 Census found 1,964 people in Wabush, 3% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Wabush?
The median age is 36.8. 20% are under 15 and 11% 65 or older.
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).