Photo: Northern Pix - https://www.flickr.com/people/northernpix/ · CC BY 2.0A median age of 23: Kugaaruk is younger than 99% of Canadian towns
Residents aged 15 to 24: 19% here and 11% across Canada’s towns. The latest estimate, for July 2025, is 1,250 residents; the 2021 Census found 210 households. Here, 7.1% of households are one person living alone. 7.2% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, a lower share than in 89% of Canadian towns.
What stands out about the people of Kugaaruk
First Nations, Métis and Inuit residents
An Indigenous identity is reported by 94% of residents, more than in 99% of Canadian towns. 0% are Registered or Treaty Indians and 12% grew up speaking an Indigenous language. Identity & religion ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Kugaaruk’s residents are under 23 and half over; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 36% are under 15 and 3.4% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
A town of renters
91% of households rent their home, more than in 99% of Canadian towns; 0% live in an apartment. Homes ↓
Common-law couples
Common-law unions take in 35% of adults, more than in 98% of Canadian towns, while 27% are married. Couples ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Growth of +11% since 2016 puts Kugaaruk ahead of 84% of Canadian towns
Figures are from the 2021 Census unless dated otherwise. How the population moved between the last two censuses, and since.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025 is 21% higher again. The median across Canada’s towns was +4%.
Below 99% of Canadian towns: 3.4% of residents are 65 or over
Residents by five-year age band, each beside the typical town (the tick).
16% of residents are under 15 across Canada’s towns, against 36% in Kugaaruk. Typically, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split.
Kugaaruk households average 4.7 people, larger than in 99% of Canadian towns
Private households by type and size.
Against Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
Nearly one in ten households are one-parent families; across Canada’s towns the figure is 8.2%.
Kugaaruk sits above 98% of Canadian towns for common-law partners (35%)
Married, common-law, single: residents 15 and over.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Married residents 15 and over make up 27%, against 46% across Canada’s towns. The comparison figure for common-law partners is 11% across Canada’s towns.
91% of households rent their home, a share 99% of Canadian towns don’t reach
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
30% of homes were built in 2001 or later, more than the 4.7% built before 1961. On average, a quarter of households rent their home across Canada’s towns. Lower than in 76% of Canadian towns: 42% of households live in a single-detached house.
Median gross household income: $99,000 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
The median across Canada’s towns is $86,000; Kugaaruk’s, at $99,000, is 15% higher. In 2020, 56% of income recipients drew a COVID-19 emergency or recovery benefit; the typical town had 28%.
1% of residents are immigrants
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
Where 17% of residents are immigrants across Canada’s towns, Kugaaruk has 1%. On top of that, residents without Canadian citizenship are rarer here than in 89% of Canadian towns.
Indigenous residents: 94%, a higher share than 99% of Canadian towns
Visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion, as residents answered the census.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Here just over one in ten residents said they have no religion, where the figure across Canada’s towns is 35%. Visible minority residents: 1% of the total. Across Canada’s towns, 2.8% of residents have an Indigenous identity.
79% have English as their mother tongue; 0.5% 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
Set against 7.5% across Canada’s towns, 0.5% of residents speak English and French in Kugaaruk. 12% have an Indigenous language as their mother tongue.
Degree holders aged 25 to 64: 9.4%, a lower share than 97% of Canadian towns
From no certificate to a master’s: residents 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Some 77% have no certificate, diploma or degree, against a typical 9.5%. By way of comparison, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
34% of adults were employed in May 2021
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.
Fewer work here than in the typical town: 34%, against 58% across Canada’s towns. 3.4% of residents are 65 or over.
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. 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.
- Against Canada’s towns. Nunavut 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 Kugaaruk’s residents
Is Kugaaruk bilingual?
0.5% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 0% speak French only and 99% English only. French is the mother tongue of 0%.
How diverse is Kugaaruk?
Immigrants: 1% (Canada’s towns: 17%). Visible minority: 1%. Indigenous identity: 94%.
What religion are people in Kugaaruk?
12% said they have no religion and 86% that they are Christian; 2.5% named another faith.
Is Kugaaruk good for families?
36% of residents are under 15 (Canada’s towns: 16%); couple families are 47% of households and one-parent families 9.3%. Schools near Kugaaruk are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Kugaaruk?
Half of Kugaaruk’s households had more than $99,000 in 2020, before tax; across Canada’s towns the median was $86,000.
What is the population of Kugaaruk?
About 1,250, by Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025. The 2021 Census found 1,033 people in Kugaaruk, 11% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Kugaaruk?
The median age is 23. 36% are under 15 and 3.4% 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).