Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 2.5Half of Elliot Lake is over 60.4, older than 99% of Canadian towns
Across Canada’s towns, the share of Indigenous residents is 2.8%; Elliot Lake has 8.5%. About 12,317 people lived locally in July 2025, Statistics Canada estimates. Residents aged 15 to 24: 6.4% of the total. This Ontario town has more households in buildings of five or more storeys than 79% of Canadian towns, at 9.8%.
What stands out about the people of Elliot Lake
Older than most towns
Half of Elliot Lake’s residents are under 60.4 and half over; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 40% are 65 or over, against 19% across Canada’s towns. Ages ↓
Many people living alone
One-person households make up 40%, more than in 88% of Canadian towns, and 40% of residents are 65 or over. Households ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Elliot Lake grew +6% from 2016 to 2021, faster than 62% 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 8% higher again. Across Canada’s towns the median change is +4%; across Ontario’s towns, +6%.
A higher share of residents aged 65 and over than 99% of Canadian towns, at 40%
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
Children under 15: 10% here and 16% across Canada’s towns. Across Canada’s towns, 19% of residents are 65 or over.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Elliot Lake, 60.4. 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.
Households here average 1.9 people, below 94% of Canadian towns
Who shares a home: household types and sizes.
Against Ontario’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
Here 40% of households are one person living alone, where the figure across Canada’s towns is 27%. Across Elliot Lake, 8% of households are one-parent families.
Fewer married residents 15 and over than 63% of Canadian towns: 42%
Marital status of residents 15 and over, with common-law couples counted apart.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Across Canada’s towns, 46% of adults are married and 11% live common-law; here, 42% and 12%. 21% of adults have never married and don’t live common-law (typical: 27%).
39% of households rent their home, a share 73% of Canadian towns don’t reach
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
The share of households in single-detached houses is 45%, against 64% across Canada’s towns. Across Canada’s towns, a quarter of households rent their home. 31% of homes were built before 1961 and 2.7% in 2001 or later.
A median household income of $50,000 a year
The census asked about income in 2020: a pandemic year, with CERB and other emergency benefits counted in. Household income before tax: the median, and households by income group.
Households by income · share of households
Household incomes run lower in Elliot Lake: half had less than $50,000, 42% under the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Among Ontario’s towns, the typical figure is $91,600. COVID-19 benefits were paid to 19% of residents with an income, where the typical town had 28%.
Elliot Lake: 13% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, above 67% of Canadian towns
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 share of residents without Canadian citizenship trails 80% of Canadian towns: 1.7%. As a yardstick, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns. Immigrants here were most often born in Europe (77%), then in the Americas (14%).
Elliot Lake sits above 56% of Canadian towns for residents with no religion (37%)
Residents’ own answers on visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Set against 15% across Canada’s towns, 2.6% of residents belong to a visible minority in Elliot Lake. The wider picture: just over a third of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns.
In Elliot Lake, 12% of residents have French as their mother tongue, more than in 76% of Canadian towns
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
With bilingual residents at 19%, Elliot Lake is ahead of 74% of Canadian towns on that count. For residents whose mother tongue is French, the comparison across Canada’s towns is 1.5%.
Elliot Lake ranks below 90% of Canadian towns on degree holders aged 25 to 64: 12%
The highest diploma or degree of adults of working age (25 to 64).
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
No diploma or degree: 19% here, 9.5% in the typical town. On average, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
An employment rate of 29%
Counted in May 2021, during COVID-19, these rates catch the job market before it had recovered. The census’s work rates at a glance. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
At 29%, fewer residents are in work than the typical 58% across Canada’s towns, and 40% are 65 or over.
The 1st oldest of 41 towns of 12,061 to 12,596 people
Similar-sized towns by median age; each dot is a town.
Median ages climb from 31.8 (Blackfalds) to 60.4 (Elliot Lake) across the group. Closest in median age to Elliot Lake are Saltspring Island (56.4) and Saint-Sauveur (58.4).
Every nearby town is younger than Elliot Lake
Places nearby, shaded by median age, each linked to its page. Elliot Lake has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 31–68 km out.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elliot Lake | 12,317 | — | 60.4 | 40% | 11% |
| Blind River | 3,692 | 30.6 km | 52.8 | 27% | 4.1% |
| Sagamok | 1,200 | 44.7 km | 31.8 | 14% | 0% |
| Sables-Spanish Rivers | 3,412 | 54.5 km | 50.4 | 24% | 3.6% |
| Huron Shores | 2,030 | 55.0 km | 56.4 | 30% | 5.7% |
| Espanola | 5,504 | 68.5 km | 48.8 | 25% | 4.4% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- Against Ontario’s towns and Canada’s towns. Each comparison is its own median: over Ontario’s towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, and over all Canadian towns of that size (whole cities and First Nations reserves left out). Percentiles are within Canada only.
Questions about Elliot Lake’s residents
How diverse is Elliot Lake?
11% of residents are immigrants (Canada’s towns: 17%); 2.6% belong to a visible minority and 8.5% have an Indigenous identity.
What religion are people in Elliot Lake?
62% are Christian and 37% have no religion; 1.6% follow another religion.
Is Elliot Lake good for families?
Under 15: 10% (Canada’s towns: 16%). Couple families: 44% of households. One-parent families: 8%. Schools near Elliot Lake are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Elliot Lake?
The median household in Elliot Lake took in $50,000 in 2020, against $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Elliot Lake?
Elliot Lake had about 12,317 residents in July 2025, Statistics Canada estimates; the 2021 Census counted 11,372, 6% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Elliot Lake?
A median age of 60.4, older than 99% of Canadian towns. Children under 15 make up 10%, and people 65 and over 40%.
Is Elliot Lake bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 19% are. Another 0.8% speak only French and 80% only English, and French is the first language of 12%.
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).