Photo: https://www.flickr.com/people/naturallight/ Leslie Philipp · CC BY 2.0Younger than 99% of Canadian towns: half of Sanikiluaq is under 21.8
The share of one-person households trails 94% of Canadian towns: 13%. Statistics Canada puts Sanikiluaq’s population at 1,141 for July 2025. On the census count, 17% of residents are aged 15 to 24. At 7.1%, the share of residents who moved in within the year is lower than in 90% of Canadian towns.
What stands out about the people of Sanikiluaq
First Nations, Métis and Inuit residents
95% of residents identify as First Nations, Métis or Inuit, more than in 99% of Canadian towns; 0% are Registered or Treaty Indians, and 91% have an Indigenous mother tongue. Identity & religion ↓
Younger than most towns
Line Sanikiluaq’s residents up by age and the one in the middle is 21.8; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 38% are under 15 and 4% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
A town of renters
Renters are 89% of households, more than in 99% of Canadian towns, and 0% of households live in an apartment. Homes ↓
Growing faster than most
Between the 2016 and 2021 censuses, Sanikiluaq went from 882 to 1,010 residents (+15%), faster growth than in 92% of Canadian towns. Population change ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
A +15% change since 2016: faster than 92% 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
The July 2025 estimate adds another 13%. Across Canada’s towns the median change was +4%.
Below 99% of Canadian towns: 4% of residents are 65 or over
Age bands of five years, the town’s bars against the typical town’s ticks.
More residents are 0–4 than any other five-year age: 14% of residents, 3 times the share across Canada’s towns. The wider picture: 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns. Children under 15: 38% of the total.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split.
Sanikiluaq households average 4.4 people, larger than in 99% of Canadian towns
Private households by type and size.
Against Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
In Sanikiluaq, 13% of households are one-parent families, beside 8.2% across Canada’s towns.
Married residents 15 and over: 23%, a lower share than 98% of Canadian towns
Residents 15 and over by marital status; the census counts common-law couples separately.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Never married and not common-law: 48% of adults (typical: 27%). As a yardstick, 46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns. On common-law partners, Sanikiluaq sits higher than 86% of Canadian towns: 23%.
A higher share of renter households than 99% of Canadian towns, at 89%
Occupied homes by type, by owners and renters, and by when they were built. 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 74% of Canadian towns. Across Canada’s towns, 25% of households rent their home. Locally, nearly half of households live in a single-detached house. A third of homes need major repairs, against a typical 5.8%.
Household income at the median: $84,000 a year
The census asked about income in 2020: a pandemic year, with CERB and other emergency benefits counted in. Total household income: the median household, and the spread from low to high.
Households by income · share of households
At $84,000, the middle household in Sanikiluaq earned close to the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Pandemic payments such as CERB reached 41% of income recipients here, against 28% in the typical town.
1% of residents are immigrants
Immigrants, newcomers and movers.
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
Across Canada’s towns, 17% of residents are immigrants; in Sanikiluaq, 1%. Residents without Canadian citizenship are rarer here than in 99% of Canadian towns.
More Indigenous residents than 99% of Canadian towns: 95%
Visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion, as residents answered the census.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Compared with 35% across Canada’s towns, 15% of residents said they have no religion here. Across the comparison, 2.8% of residents have an Indigenous identity across Canada’s towns. In Sanikiluaq, 1% of residents belong to a visible minority.
2% have a mother tongue other than English or French
Knowledge of the two official languages, first languages, and the language of home.
Can hold a conversation in · share of all residents
Mother tongue · share of all residents
An Indigenous language is the mother tongue of 91%. At 1%, the share of bilingual residents is lower than in 99% of Canadian towns. Where 1.5% of residents have French as their mother tongue across Canada’s towns, Sanikiluaq has 0.5%.
In Sanikiluaq, 6.2% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, fewer than in 99% of Canadian towns
From no certificate to a master’s: residents 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
With no certificate, diploma or degree: 63%, beside a typical 9.5%. As a reference point, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
In work on census day: 36% of adults
Counted in May 2021, during COVID-19, these rates catch the job market before it had recovered. The census’s labour rates, in brief. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
The employment rate of 36% is below the typical 58% across Canada’s towns; 4% of residents are 65 or over.
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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).
- What these tables don’t give. Not in the Census Profile: unpaid care, cars, internet access, and how each age group has changed since 2016. We also chart no ethnic origins besides visible minority and Indigenous identity.
- The census’s own words. The census takes “visible minority” from the Employment Equity Act: anyone other than Indigenous peoples who is non-white in colour or race. Indigenous identity, immigrant status and religion are what residents reported, compared here with other towns and never used as a label.
Questions about Sanikiluaq’s residents
What is the average age in Sanikiluaq?
21.8 is the median age. Under 15: 38%. 65 and over: 4%.
Is Sanikiluaq bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 1% are. Another 0% speak only French and 95% only English, and French is the first language of 0.5%.
How diverse is Sanikiluaq?
Immigrants make up 1% of residents, against 17% across Canada’s towns. 1% are members of a visible minority, and 95% are First Nations, Métis or Inuit.
What religion are people in Sanikiluaq?
Christian: 85%. No religion: 15%. Another religion: 0.4%.
Is Sanikiluaq good for families?
Across Canada’s towns, a typical 16% of residents are under 15; here, 38%. 37% of households are couple families and 13% one-parent families. Schools near Sanikiluaq are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Sanikiluaq?
$84,000 before tax, in 2020: the middle household’s income in Sanikiluaq (Canada’s towns: $86,000).
What is the population of Sanikiluaq?
Statistics Canada estimates 1,141 residents for July 2025; the 2021 Census counted 1,010 in Sanikiluaq, 15% more than 2016.
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).