Photo: JFVoll · CC BY-SA 4.0More households in buildings of five or more storeys than 80% of Canadian towns: 11%
One-parent families are more common here than in 86% of Canadian towns. Its population is up 6% on 2016. The census found that 40% of residents said they have no religion in Brantford. Most recent wave: 23% of immigrants arrived in 2011–2021 (Canada’s towns: 27%).
Brantford grew +6% from 2016 to 2021, ahead of 64% 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
Across Canada’s towns the median change is +4%; across Ontario’s towns, +6%. By July 2025, the estimate had risen a further 18%.
Half of Brantford is under 40.8, younger than 58% of Canadian towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
Compared with 11% across Canada’s towns, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 here. More residents are 55–59 than any other five-year age: 6.9% of residents. The highest share aged 65 or over among Ontario’s towns is Northern Bruce Peninsula’s: 41%.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Brantford, 40.8. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women.
Brantford households average 2.5 people, larger than in 58% of Canadian towns
Private households by type and size.
Against Ontario’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
On the census count, 28% of households are one person living alone.
Married residents 15 and over make up 43% in Brantford, less than in 61% of Canadian towns
Marital status of residents 15 and over, with common-law couples counted apart.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Never married and not common-law: 28% of adults (typical: 27%). As a reference point, 46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns. Census figures put common-law partners at 11% in Brantford.
A larger share of renter households than 66% of Canadian towns: 34%
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
Older homes outnumber new: 33% predate 1961, 18% date from 2001 or later. Single-detached houses hold 61% of households, less than in 54% of Canadian towns, and buildings of five or more storeys 11%. For renter households, the comparison across Canada’s towns is 25%.
The middle household earns $79,500 a year
The income year is 2020: a year of pandemic benefits such as CERB, which the figures count. Household income before tax: the median, and households by income group.
Households by income · share of households
Half of Brantford’s households had a total income below $79,500, 8% under the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). The middle household across Ontario’s towns has $91,600 before tax. 29% of income recipients received COVID-19 emergency or recovery benefits (typical: 28%).
Brantford ranks above 60% of Canadian towns on residents who moved in within the year: 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 35%
When immigrants arrived · share of immigrants
Citizenship and moving · share of residents
The largest groups of immigrants were born in Europe (39%) and in Asia (39%). Typically, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns. The figure for immigrants is 16% in Brantford and 17% across Canada’s towns.
Brantford: 5.2% of residents have an Indigenous identity, above 71% of Canadian towns
Visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion, as residents answered the census.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Other faiths: Sikh (2.6%) and Muslim (2%). Across Canada’s towns, Indigenous residents come to 2.8%. On visible minority residents, 15% here is much the same as across Canada’s towns.
84% have English as their mother tongue; 4.8% also speak French
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: English 91%, French 0.2%. On bilingual residents, Brantford sits lower than 77% of Canadian towns: 4.8%. Residents whose mother tongue is French: 1%, near enough the figure across Canada’s towns.
Degree holders aged 25 to 64 make up 20% in Brantford, less than in 68% of Canadian towns
From no certificate to a master’s: residents 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Without any certificate: 12% of 25- to 64-year-olds (typical: 9.5%).
In work on census day: 54% of adults
Census day was in May 2021, mid-pandemic: some of these rates are lower than in a usual year. The census’s work rates at a glance. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
The employment rate of 54% is below the typical 58% across Canada’s towns; 19% of residents are 65 or over.
Of 41 towns its size (91,290 to 167,654 people), the 17th youngest
Similar-sized towns by median age; each dot is a town.
At one end is Airdrie (35.6), at the other Cape Breton (50.4). Nearest to Brantford in age: Moncton (40.8), Langley (40.8), Maple Ridge (41.2) and Kingston (41.2).
Every neighbour of Brantford has an older population
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each links to its own page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brantford | 123,521 | — | 40.8 | 19% | 16% |
| Paris | 45,565 | 9.6 km | 44 | 20% | 11% |
| Six Nations (Part) 40 | 7,298 | 15.1 km | — | — | — |
| Lynden | 10,442 | 17.1 km | 48.4 | 24% | 13% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Ontario’s towns and Canada’s towns. A figure here is set beside two middles, the median across Ontario’s places of 2,500 people or more and the median across all Canadian towns that size; reserves and entire cities are excluded from both.
- 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.
- The census’s own words. In the census, “visible minority” is the Employment Equity Act’s term for people who are non-white in colour or race and not Indigenous. Like immigrant status, Indigenous identity and religion, which residents reported themselves, it is compared with other towns, never turned into a label.
Questions about Brantford’s residents
How diverse is Brantford?
Immigrants make up 16% of residents, against 17% across Canada’s towns. 15% are members of a visible minority, and 5.2% are First Nations, Métis or Inuit.
What religion are people in Brantford?
Christian: 52%. No religion: 40%. Another religion: 7.8%.
Is Brantford good for families?
Across Canada’s towns, a typical 16% of residents are under 15; here, 17%. 49% of households are couple families and 11% one-parent families. Schools near Brantford are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Brantford?
$79,500 before tax, in 2020: the middle household’s income in Brantford (Canada’s towns: $86,000).
What is the population of Brantford?
Statistics Canada estimates 123,521 residents for July 2025; the 2021 Census counted 104,688 in Brantford, 6% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Brantford?
40.8 is the median age, younger than 58% of Canadian towns. Under 15: 17%. 65 and over: 19%.
Is Brantford bilingual?
4.8% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 0% speak French only and 94% English only. French is the mother tongue of 1%.
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).