Photo: JustSomePics · CC BY-SA 3.0In Chesley, 20% of residents are under 15, more than in 85% of Canadian towns
The figure for households in single-detached houses is 84% in Chesley and 64% across Canada’s towns. The latest estimate, for July 2025, is 7,639 residents; the 2021 Census found 2,785 households. Here, just over two in five residents said they have no religion. Lower than in 86% of Canadian towns: 3.8% of residents are immigrants. Statistics Canada counts Chesley as part of Arran-Elderslie: the figures on this page are the municipality’s.
+2% since 2016, a pace below 67% 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
By July 2025, the estimate had risen a further 11%. Across Canada’s towns the median change is +4%; across Ontario’s towns, +6%.
Chesley ranks above 70% of Canadian towns on residents aged 65 and over: 22%
Age bands of five years, the town’s bars against the typical town’s ticks.
60–64 is the most common age band: 7.4% of residents. Set beside that, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns. Few places have so few residents aged 15 to 24: 9% here, fewer than in 80% of Canadian towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Chesley, 42. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split.
Chesley: 29% of households are one person living alone, above 56% of Canadian towns
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.
With one-parent families at 6.5%, Chesley is behind 77% of Canadian towns on that count. For comparison, 27% of households are one person living alone across Canada’s towns. The average household has 2.4 people.
50% of residents 15 and over are married, more than in 62% of Canadian towns
Residents 15 and over by marital status; the census counts common-law couples separately.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Just over a fifth of adults are single and have never married; the typical town has 27%. Elsewhere, 46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns. Common-law partners account for 12%.
Fewer renter households than 57% of Canadian towns: 22%
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
50% of homes were built before 1961 and 14% in 2001 or later. Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in 74% of Canadian towns. Renter households make up 25% across Canada’s towns.
Median household income: $80,000 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 $80,000, the middle household in Chesley earned 7% less than the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Household incomes across Ontario’s towns have a median of $91,600. The pandemic’s benefits: 20% of income recipients, against 28% in the typical town.
Below 71% of Canadian towns: 9.1% of residents lived at another address a year earlier
Immigrants, newcomers and movers.
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
Where 5.8% of residents are not Canadian citizens across Canada’s towns, Chesley has 1.3%. Across Canada’s towns, residents who moved in within the year come to 11%. Most immigrants were born in Europe (65%) or in the Americas (20%).
57% said they are Christian and 42% that they have no religion
Identity and faith, in the census’s categories.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Here 1.6% of residents belong to a visible minority, where the figure across Canada’s towns is 15%. 1.7% of residents have an Indigenous identity.
English is the mother tongue of 91%, and 3.8% speak French as well
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
Across Canada’s towns, the share of residents whose mother tongue is French is 1.5%; Chesley has 0.5%. 5.9% most often speak a language other than English or French at home, and 0.9% speak neither official language. On bilingual residents, Chesley sits lower than 89% of Canadian towns: 3.8%.
Fewer degree holders aged 25 to 64 than 86% of Canadian towns: 14%
Education of residents 25 to 64, by highest credential.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
No certificate at all: 15%, against 9.5%. Against that, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
An employment rate of 61%
The census counted work in May 2021, mid-pandemic, so read these rates as a pandemic snapshot. The census’s labour rates, in brief. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
61% of residents 15 and over have a job; across Canada’s towns the typical share is 58%.
Among 41 towns of 7,483 to 7,785 people, the 14th youngest
Median age of the Canadian towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
At one end is Ambleside (34.4), at the other Louiseville (57.6). Saint-Lambert-de-Lauzon (40.8), Ermineskin (41.4), Pulberry (42.2) and Lakeview (42.3): the towns nearest Chesley in median age.
Every neighbour of Chesley has an older population
Neighbouring places and their median ages; each name opens its page. Chesley has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 21–27 km out.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chesley | 7,639 | — | 42 | 22% | 3.8% |
| Port Elgin | 18,167 | 21.0 km | 46.8 | 26% | 11% |
| Chatsworth | 7,770 | 23.6 km | 46 | 22% | 7.1% |
| Walkerton | 10,811 | 25.5 km | 44.8 | 23% | 4.1% |
| Hanover | 8,723 | 26.7 km | 49.2 | 30% | 6.2% |
| Owen Sound | 24,075 | 27.0 km | 48 | 27% | 7.8% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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 Ontario’s towns and Canada’s towns. Two medians frame each figure: one for Ontario’s towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, one for all Canadian towns of that size, with whole cities and First Nations reserves left out. Percentiles rank the town within Canada.
- What these tables don’t give. Unpaid care, car ownership and internet access aren’t in the Census Profile, nor is the change by age since 2016. Ethnic origins other than visible minority and Indigenous identity are left out of the charts.
Questions about Chesley’s residents
What is the median income in Chesley?
Half of Chesley’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 Chesley?
About 7,639, by Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025. The 2021 Census found 6,913 people in Chesley, 2% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Chesley?
The median age is 42, younger than 51% of Canadian towns. 20% are under 15 and 22% 65 or older.
Is Chesley bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 3.8% are. Another 0% speak only French and 95% only English, and French is the first language of 0.5%.
How diverse is Chesley?
Immigrants: 3.8% (Canada’s towns: 17%). Visible minority: 1.6%. Indigenous identity: 1.7%.
What religion are people in Chesley?
42% said they have no religion and 57% that they are Christian; 0.8% named another faith.
Is Chesley good for families?
20% of residents are under 15 (Canada’s towns: 16%); couple families are 59% of households and one-parent families 6.5%. Schools near Chesley are on its Schools page.
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).