Photo: awmcphee · CC063% of residents have an Indigenous identity, more than in 99% of Canadian towns
One-parent families: 14% here and 8.2% across Canada’s towns. The share of children under 15 stands at 20%. Half of Fort Smith’s residents are under 38.4, younger than in 74% of Canadian towns. This Northwest Territories town had about 2,484 residents in July 2025, by Statistics Canada’s estimate, and 880 households at the 2021 Census.
What stands out about the people of Fort Smith
First Nations, Métis and Inuit residents
An Indigenous identity is reported by 63% of residents, more than in 99% of Canadian towns, and 33% are Registered or Treaty Indians. Identity & religion ↓
Fewer people than before
Between the 2016 and 2021 censuses, Fort Smith went from 2,542 to 2,248 residents (−12%), slower growth than in 99% of Canadian towns. Population change ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Since 2016, Fort Smith has changed by −12%, slower than 99% of Canadian towns
Every figure here comes from the 2021 Census unless it carries another date. Two census counts, five years apart, and Statistics Canada’s newest estimate.
Change, 2016 to 2021
For comparison, Canada’s towns changed by a median +4%. The July 2025 estimate adds another 10%.
Fewer residents aged 65 and over than 74% of Canadian towns: 15%
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
The largest age band is 30–34: 8% of residents, 1.3 times the share across Canada’s towns. By way of comparison, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns. In Fort Smith, one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 109 men for every 100 women.
Bigger households than 58% of Canadian towns: 2.5 people each on average
Who shares a home: household types and sizes.
Against Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
On the census count, 26% of households are one person living alone.
Above 84% of Canadian towns: 20% of residents 15 and over live common-law
Marital status of residents 15 and over, with common-law couples counted apart.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Set against 46% across Canada’s towns, 34% of residents 15 and over are married in Fort Smith. Common-law partners make up 11% across Canada’s towns.
38% of households rent their home, a share 71% of Canadian towns don’t reach
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
17% of homes need major repairs, against a typical 5.8%. Few places have as many households in single-detached houses: 77% here, more than in just over two thirds of Canadian towns. Elsewhere, 25% of households rent their home across Canada’s towns. Newer homes outnumber old: 18% date from 2001 or later, 8.5% from before 1961.
Before tax, the median household income is $120,000 a year
Census incomes cover 2020, when emergency benefits like CERB lifted many households’ totals. What households took in before tax, at the middle and across income groups.
Households by income · share of households
The median across Canada’s towns is $86,000; Fort Smith’s, at $120,000, is 40% higher. Pandemic payments such as CERB reached 26% of income recipients here, against 28% in the typical town.
A higher share of residents who moved in within the year than 57% of Canadian towns, at 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
With residents without Canadian citizenship at 1.8%, Fort Smith is behind 78% of Canadian towns on that count. In Fort Smith, 4.8% of residents are immigrants. Across the comparison, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns.
A larger share of residents with no religion than 81% of Canadian towns: 46%
Residents’ own answers on visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
The figure for visible minority residents is 5% in Fort Smith and 15% across Canada’s towns. For residents with no religion, the comparison across Canada’s towns is 35%.
More residents whose mother tongue is French than 68% of Canadian towns: 2.9%
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 4.1%. The comparison figure for residents whose mother tongue is French is 1.5% across Canada’s towns. At 7.7%, the share of bilingual residents is in line with the figure across Canada’s towns.
In Fort Smith, 23% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, fewer than in 58% 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: 18%, against 9.5%. Typically, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
Employment: 63% 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.
More people work here than in the typical town: 63%, against 58% across Canada’s towns.
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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).
- 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.
Questions about Fort Smith’s residents
Is Fort Smith good for families?
Across Canada’s towns, a typical 16% of residents are under 15; here, 20%. 48% of households are couple families and 14% one-parent families. Schools near Fort Smith are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Fort Smith?
$120,000 before tax, in 2020: the middle household’s income in Fort Smith (Canada’s towns: $86,000).
What is the population of Fort Smith?
Statistics Canada estimates 2,484 residents for July 2025; the 2021 Census counted 2,248 in Fort Smith, 12% fewer than 2016.
What is the average age in Fort Smith?
38.4 is the median age. Under 15: 20%. 65 and over: 15%.
Is Fort Smith bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 7.7% are. Another 0.2% speak only French and 92% only English, and French is the first language of 2.9%.
How diverse is Fort Smith?
Immigrants make up 4.8% of residents, against 17% across Canada’s towns. 5% are members of a visible minority, and 63% are First Nations, Métis or Inuit.
What religion are people in Fort Smith?
Christian: 49%. No religion: 46%. Another religion: 4.7%.
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).