Photo: sfbnurse https://www.flickr.com/people/sfbnurse/ · CC BY 2.0Fort Simpson ranks above 99% of Canadian towns on Indigenous residents: 76%
Most recent wave: 63% of immigrants arrived in 2011–2021 (Canada’s towns: 27%). Fort Simpson is home to some 1,330 people (July 2025 estimate), in 455 households at the 2021 Census. Here, 49% of households rent their home. Higher than in 84% of Canadian towns: 11% of households are one-parent families.
What stands out about the people of Fort Simpson
First Nations, Métis and Inuit residents
An Indigenous identity is reported by 76% of residents, more than in 99% of Canadian towns. 64% are Registered or Treaty Indians and 16% grew up speaking an Indigenous language. Identity & religion ↓
Fewer people than before
Fort Simpson went from 1,202 people in 2016 to 1,100 in 2021, −9%: slower growth than in 99% of Canadian towns. Population change ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Since 2016, Fort Simpson has changed by −9%, slower than 99% of Canadian towns
All figures are the 2021 Census’s unless another date is shown. Two census counts, five years apart, and Statistics Canada’s newest estimate.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025 is 21% higher again. For comparison, Canada’s towns changed by a median +4%.
A lower share of residents aged 65 and over than 80% of Canadian towns, at 14%
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
Half of Fort Simpson’s residents are under 40, younger than in 63% of Canadian towns. Set beside that, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns. For Fort Simpson, the census puts residents aged 15 to 24 at 13%. No age band is larger than 30–34: 9.1% of 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 106 men for every 100 women.
Fort Simpson sits above 56% of Canadian towns for one-person households (29%)
Who shares a home: household types and sizes.
Against Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
Households average 2.4 people, against 2.4 across Canada’s towns. Shared houses stand out: 7.7% of households are unrelated adults living together, more than in 90% of Canadian towns. By way of comparison, 27% of households are one person living alone across Canada’s towns.
In Fort Simpson, 21% of residents 15 and over live common-law, more than in 85% of Canadian towns
Marital status of residents 15 and over, with common-law couples counted apart.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Nearly two in five adults are single and have never married; the typical town has 27%. Here, 30% of residents 15 and over are married. Across Canada’s towns, the share of common-law partners is 11%.
Fort Simpson: 68% of households live in a single-detached house, above 56% of Canadian towns
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
Newer homes outnumber old: 22% date from 2001 or later, 4.4% from before 1961. Measured more widely, 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns. Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in nearly three quarters of Canadian towns. Nearly a quarter of homes need major repairs, against a typical 5.8%.
The median household brings in $111,000 a year
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
Fort Simpson’s median household took in $111,000 before tax, 29% more than the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Emergency and recovery benefits reached 35% of those with an income, beside a typical 28%.
Fort Simpson ranks above 57% of Canadian towns on residents who moved in within the year: 12%
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
Most immigrants were born in Asia (50%) or in Europe (38%). At 3.7%, the share of immigrants is lower than in 86% of Canadian towns. Set beside that, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns. 1.9% of residents are not Canadian citizens, against 5.8% across Canada’s towns.
Fort Simpson sits above 79% of Canadian towns for residents with no religion (45%)
Residents’ own answers on visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
With visible minority residents at 2.8%, Fort Simpson is behind 78% of Canadian towns on that count. Elsewhere, just over a third of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns.
English is the mother tongue of 77%, and 2.8% 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
An Indigenous language is the mother tongue of 16%. Fewer bilingual residents than in 95% of Canadian towns: 2.8%. Residents whose mother tongue is French are about as common here as across Canada’s towns, at 1.4%.
In Fort Simpson, 14% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, fewer than in 86% of Canadian towns
The highest diploma or degree of adults of working age (25 to 64).
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
No certificate at all: 29%, against 9.5%. For comparison, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
Employment: 58% of residents 15 and over had a job
The census counted work in May 2021, mid-pandemic, so read these rates as a pandemic snapshot. The census’s work rates at a glance. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
About as many work here as in the typical town: 58%, against 58% across Canada’s towns.
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What these tables don’t give. The Census Profile has no unpaid care, cars or internet access, and no change by age since 2016; ethnic origins beyond 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 Canada’s towns. Northwest Territories has too few towns of 2,500 or more for a median of its own, so each figure is set beside the median of all Canadian towns of that size (whole cities and First Nations reserves left out).
Questions about Fort Simpson’s residents
Is Fort Simpson bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 2.8% are. Another 0% speak only French and 97% only English, and French is the first language of 1.4%.
How diverse is Fort Simpson?
Immigrants make up 3.7% of residents, against 17% across Canada’s towns. 2.8% are members of a visible minority, and 76% are First Nations, Métis or Inuit.
What religion are people in Fort Simpson?
Christian: 51%. No religion: 45%. Another religion: 3.2%.
Is Fort Simpson good for families?
Across Canada’s towns, a typical 16% of residents are under 15; here, 15%. 44% of households are couple families and 11% one-parent families. Schools near Fort Simpson are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Fort Simpson?
$111,000 before tax, in 2020: the middle household’s income in Fort Simpson (Canada’s towns: $86,000).
What is the population of Fort Simpson?
Statistics Canada estimates 1,330 residents for July 2025; the 2021 Census counted 1,100 in Fort Simpson, 9% fewer than 2016.
What is the average age in Fort Simpson?
40 is the median age. Under 15: 15%. 65 and over: 14%.
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).