Photo: Adam Jones, Ph.D. · CC BY-SA 3.0Half of Tuktoyaktuk is under 30.8, younger than 99% of Canadian towns
Residents aged 15 to 24: 14% here and 11% across Canada’s towns. About 1,026 people lived in Tuktoyaktuk in July 2025, Statistics Canada estimates. Locally, 12% of households are one-parent families. At 1.6%, the share of immigrants is lower than in 95% of Canadian towns.
What stands out about the people of Tuktoyaktuk
First Nations, Métis and Inuit residents
92% of residents identify as First Nations, Métis or Inuit, more than in 99% of Canadian towns; 3.8% are Registered or Treaty Indians, and 7.5% have an Indigenous mother tongue. Identity & religion ↓
Younger than most towns
Line Tuktoyaktuk’s residents up by age and the one in the middle is 30.8; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 27% are under 15 and 9% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
A town of renters
70% of households rent their home, more than in 96% of Canadian towns; 7% live in an apartment. Homes ↓
Common-law couples
Common-law unions take in 28% of adults, more than in 91% of Canadian towns, while 20% are married. Couples ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
A +4% change since 2016: Tuktoyaktuk grew faster than 51% of Canadian towns
All figures are the 2021 Census’s unless another date is shown. How the population moved between the last two censuses, and since.
Change, 2016 to 2021
By July 2025, the estimate had risen a further 9%.
Tuktoyaktuk: 27% of residents are under 15, above 99% of Canadian towns
Residents by five-year age band, each beside the typical town (the tick).
More residents are 0–4 than any other five-year age: one in ten residents, 2 times the share across Canada’s towns. Typically, 16% of residents are under 15 across Canada’s towns. The share of residents aged 65 and over stands at 9%.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
47% women, 53% men
About 111 men for every 100 women.
Bigger households than 94% of Canadian towns: 3.2 people each on average
Who shares a home: household types and sizes.
Against Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
One-person households: 28% of the total.
Tuktoyaktuk sits above 91% of Canadian towns for common-law partners (28%)
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 20% in Tuktoyaktuk. The benchmark for common-law partners across Canada’s towns: 11%.
A higher share of renter households than 96% of Canadian towns, at 70%
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
Newer homes outnumber old: 14% date from 2001 or later, 3.5% from before 1961. Elsewhere, 25% of households rent their home across Canada’s towns. Fewer households in single-detached houses than in 63% of Canadian towns: 54%. Nearly a third of homes need major repairs, against a typical 5.8%.
Household income, middle of the range: $80,000 a year
Census incomes are for 2020, the year before the census, when CERB and other pandemic benefits topped up many households. What households took in before tax, at the middle and across income groups.
Households by income · share of households
At $80,000, the middle household in Tuktoyaktuk earned 7% less than the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). The pandemic’s benefits: 38% of income recipients, against 28% in the typical town.
Fewer residents who moved in within the year than 60% of Canadian towns: 10%
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
Residents without Canadian citizenship are rarer here than in 99% of Canadian towns. Typically, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns.
Indigenous residents: 92%, a higher share than 99% of Canadian towns
Residents’ own answers on visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
The share of residents with no religion is 30%, against 35% across Canada’s towns. Across Canada’s towns, 2.8% of residents have an Indigenous identity. Visible minority residents account for 1.1%.
88% have English as their mother tongue; 1.6% also speak 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
An Indigenous language is the mother tongue of 7.5%. Tuktoyaktuk has fewer bilingual residents than 99% of Canadian towns, at 1.6%. Residents whose mother tongue is French: 0.5%, below 92% of Canadian towns.
Below 99% of Canadian towns: 6.7% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher
The highest diploma or degree of adults of working age (25 to 64).
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Without any certificate: 59% of 25- to 64-year-olds (typical: 9.5%).
Employment: 35% of residents 15 and over had a job
May 2021 was still a pandemic month: the census’s work figures reflect that. Work, briefly: employment, unemployment, participation and working from home. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
With 9% of residents 65 or over, the employment rate of 35% sits under the typical 58% across Canada’s towns.
The places around Tuktoyaktuk
Places nearby, shaded by median age, each linked to its page. No closer place has figures: this one lies 124 km from Tuktoyaktuk.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuktoyaktuk | 1,026 | — | 30.8 | 9% | 1.6% |
| Inuvik | 3,337 | 123.7 km | 34.8 | 9.6% | 8.5% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. Some things the page can’t show: the Census Profile asks nothing about unpaid care, cars or internet access, and gives no change by age since 2016. Ethnic origins beyond visible minority and Indigenous identity aren’t charted.
- The census’s own words. These are self-reported answers: Indigenous identity, immigrant status, religion. The census’s “visible minority” comes from the Employment Equity Act (non-white in colour or race, Indigenous peoples aside), and the page sets each beside other towns without labelling any.
Questions about Tuktoyaktuk’s residents
Is Tuktoyaktuk good for families?
27% of residents are under 15 (Canada’s towns: 16%); couple families are 39% of households and one-parent families 12%. Schools near Tuktoyaktuk are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Tuktoyaktuk?
Half of Tuktoyaktuk’s households had more than $80,000 in 2020, before tax; across Canada’s towns the median was $86,000.
What is the population of Tuktoyaktuk?
About 1,026, by Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025. The 2021 Census found 937 people in Tuktoyaktuk, 4% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Tuktoyaktuk?
The median age is 30.8. 27% are under 15 and 9% 65 or older.
Is Tuktoyaktuk bilingual?
1.6% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 0% speak French only and 98% English only. French is the mother tongue of 0.5%.
How diverse is Tuktoyaktuk?
Immigrants: 1.6% (Canada’s towns: 17%). Visible minority: 1.1%. Indigenous identity: 92%.
What religion are people in Tuktoyaktuk?
30% said they have no religion and 69% that they are Christian; 1.1% named another faith.
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).