Photo: The Town of Ajax · CC BY 3.0Ajax ranks above 91% of Canadian towns on visible minority residents: 65%
Compared with 27% across Canada’s towns, 14% of households are one person living alone here. At the same time, households in buildings of five or more storeys are more common here than in just over three quarters of Canadian towns. Some 141,111 people live in Ajax, by the estimate for July 2025. Locally, 13% of residents are aged 15 to 24.
What stands out about the people of Ajax
A mix of backgrounds
Visible minority residents make up 65%, more than in 91% of Canadian towns, and immigrants 42%. Identity & religion ↓
More immigrants than most towns
42% of residents are immigrants, against 26% across Ontario’s towns and 17% across Canada’s towns. The largest groups of immigrants were born in Asia (56%) and in the Americas (26%); 19% of them arrived from 2011 to 2021. Immigrants & newcomers ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Ajax’s population changed by +6% since 2016, more than in 61% of Canadian towns
Unless a figure says otherwise, it is from the 2021 Census. Two census counts, five years apart, and Statistics Canada’s newest estimate.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025 is 11% higher again. Across Canada’s towns, half of towns changed by more than +4%; across Ontario’s towns, by more than +6%.
13% of residents are 65 or over, below 82% of Canadian towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
Half of Ajax’s residents are under 38.4, younger than in 74% of Canadian towns. As a yardstick, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns. The largest age band is 55–59: 7.4% of residents.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Ajax, 38.4. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women.
Larger households than 94% of Canadian towns: 3.2 people on average
Households by family type and by the number of people in them.
Against Ontario’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
Couple families are 57% of households (Canada’s towns 53%) and one-parent families 11% (8.2%).
Only 5.6% of residents 15 and over live common-law in Ajax
Marital status of residents 15 and over, with common-law couples counted apart.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Where 46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns, Ajax has 53%. The comparison figure for common-law partners is 11% across Canada’s towns.
Fewer renter households than 71% of Canadian towns: 17%
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: 41% date from 2001 or later, 7% from before 1961. Single-detached houses hold 65% of households, more than in 51% of Canadian towns, and buildings of five or more storeys 6.7%. Renter households: 25% across Canada’s towns, for comparison.
Half of households earn more than $119,000 a year
Census incomes cover 2020, when emergency benefits like CERB lifted many households’ totals. Household income before tax: the median, and households by income group.
Households by income · share of households
The median across Canada’s towns is $86,000; Ajax’s, at $119,000, is 38% higher. The middle household across Ontario’s towns has $91,600 before tax. Pandemic benefits reached 34% of residents with an income, against a typical 28%.
Ajax sits above 86% of Canadian towns for immigrants (42%)
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 50%
When immigrants arrived · share of immigrants
Citizenship and moving · share of residents
The figure for residents without Canadian citizenship is 8% in Ajax and 5.8% across Canada’s towns. The census found that 9.4% of residents lived at another address a year earlier in the town. For comparison, 17% of residents are immigrants across Canada’s towns.
Residents with no religion: 21%, a lower share than 85% of Canadian towns
Identity and faith, in the census’s categories.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Among other religions: Muslim (14%) and Hindu (12%). Across the comparison, 35% of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns. On Indigenous residents, Ajax sits lower than just over four fifths of Canadian towns: 1%.
English is the mother tongue of 65%, and 7.5% 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
At home, 16% mostly speak another language; 1.9% speak neither English nor French. Ajax has fewer residents whose mother tongue is French than 67% of Canadian towns, at 1.1%.
Ajax ranks above 66% of Canadian towns on degree holders aged 25 to 64: 36%
Education of residents 25 to 64, by highest credential.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
With no certificate, diploma or degree: 7.3%, beside a typical 9.5%. The usual figure: 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
A job for 58% of residents aged 15 and over
The census was taken in May 2021, during the pandemic, so these rates show a labour market still recovering. The census’s work rates at a glance. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
At 58%, the share in work is about the typical 58% across Canada’s towns.
Among 41 towns of 97,845 to 197,737 people, the 5th youngest
Similar-sized towns by median age; each dot is a town.
They run from Waterloo, at 36, to Cape Breton, at 50.4. Closest in median age to Ajax are Lethbridge (38), Guelph (38.4), Red Deer (38.8) and Cambridge (39.2).
Every neighbour of Ajax has an older population
Neighbouring places and their median ages; each name opens its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ajax | 141,111 | — | 38.4 | 13% | 42% |
| Pickering | 118,378 | 6.6 km | 40.8 | 17% | 36% |
| Whitby | 162,413 | 8.5 km | 40 | 15% | 28% |
| West Rouge | 20,915 | 12.1 km | 44.4 | 22% | 46% |
| Centennial Scarborough | 13,453 | 13.1 km | 44.8 | 21% | 37% |
| Highland Creek | 12,678 | 14.2 km | 44.5 | 23% | 58% |
| Oshawa | 213,592 | 15.0 km | 39.2 | 17% | 22% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- Against Ontario’s towns and Canada’s towns. The middle of Ontario’s towns of 2,500 or more comes first, the middle of all Canadian towns second; cities as a whole and First Nations reserves stay out, and percentiles are within Canada.
- What these tables don’t give. Missing from the census as published: unpaid care, cars and internet access, and the shift in each age band since 2016. Ethnic origins past visible minority and Indigenous identity aren’t charted here.
Questions about Ajax’s residents
What religion are people in Ajax?
51% are Christian and 21% have no religion; 28% follow another religion.
Is Ajax good for families?
Under 15: 19% (Canada’s towns: 16%). Couple families: 57% of households. One-parent families: 11%. Schools near Ajax are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Ajax?
The median household in Ajax took in $119,000 in 2020, against $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Ajax?
Ajax had about 141,111 residents in July 2025, Statistics Canada estimates; the 2021 Census counted 126,666, 6% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Ajax?
A median age of 38.4, younger than 74% of Canadian towns. Children under 15 make up 19%, and people 65 and over 13%.
Is Ajax bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 7.5% are. Another 0.1% speak only French and 91% only English, and French is the first language of 1.1%.
How diverse is Ajax?
42% of residents are immigrants (Canada’s towns: 17%); 65% belong to a visible minority and 1% have an Indigenous identity.
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).