Photo: Saskia2586 · CC BY-SA 3.021% of residents are under 15, a share 88% of Canadian towns don’t reach
At 2.8 people, the average household compares with 2.4 across Canada’s towns. Few places have so few renter households: 16% here, fewer than in 72% of Canadian towns. There are 8% more residents than in 2016. The share of residents with no religion stands at 28%. Statistics Canada counts Elmira as part of Woolwich: the figures on this page are the municipality’s.
Growth of +8% since 2016 puts Elmira ahead of 73% of Canadian towns
Unless a figure says otherwise, it is from the 2021 Census. The census counts of 2016 and 2021, the estimate after them, and the change set beside other towns.
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 16%.
Younger than 66% of Canadian towns: half of Elmira is under 39.6
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
No age band is larger than 10–14: 7.2% of residents, 1.3 times the share across Canada’s towns. The share of residents aged 15 to 24 stands at 12%. 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+
■ Elmira, 39.6. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split.
Elmira ranks below 82% of Canadian towns on one-person households: 18%
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.
One-parent families: 6.3%, below four fifths of Canadian towns. The usual figure: 27% of households are one person living alone across Canada’s towns.
Married residents 15 and over: 59%, a higher share than 91% of Canadian towns
Marital status of residents 15 and over, with common-law couples counted apart.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Common-law partners make up 7.2%, against 11% across Canada’s towns. The wider picture: 46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns.
Households in single-detached houses make up 76% in Elmira, more than in 66% of Canadian towns
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
38% of homes were built in 2001 or later, more than the 23% built before 1961. Across Canada’s towns, 64% of households live in a single-detached house. Households in buildings of five or more storeys: 0.1%, near enough the figure across Canada’s towns.
$115,000 a year is the median household income here
Incomes here are for 2020, the year before the census, CERB and other pandemic benefits included. What households took in before tax, at the middle and across income groups.
Households by income · share of households
Household incomes run high in Elmira: half had more than $115,000, 34% above the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Across Ontario’s towns the median is $91,600. COVID-19 benefits went to 21% of residents with an income (typical: 28%).
13% of residents are immigrants
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
Recent arrivals, from 2011 to 2021, are just over a fifth of immigrants (typical: 27%); non-permanent residents add 0.5% of residents. Residents without Canadian citizenship: 3.1% of the total. A year before the census, 11% lived somewhere else: more than the typical 11% across Canada’s towns.
68% said they are Christian and 28% that they have no religion
Identity and faith, in the census’s categories.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Here 9.4% of residents belong to a visible minority, where the figure across Canada’s towns is 15%. Indigenous residents are rarer here than in 81% of Canadian towns.
English is the mother tongue of 78%, and 4.5% 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
12% most often speak a language other than English or French at home, and 1.5% speak neither official language. Lower than in 81% of Canadian towns: 4.5% of residents speak English and French. Residents whose mother tongue is French are about as common here as across Canada’s towns: 0.6%.
A higher share of degree holders aged 25 to 64 than 55% of Canadian towns, at 30%
Education of residents 25 to 64, by highest credential.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
At the other end, 13% hold no certificate, diploma or degree, against a typical 9.5%. Set beside that, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
Employment: 65% of residents 15 and over had a job
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.
Across Canada’s towns the typical rate is 58%, below this 65%.
18th lowest median age among 41 towns of 29,669 to 33,229
Similar-sized towns by median age; each dot is a town.
Alloa is the youngest of them at 31.3; Magog, at 54.4, the oldest. Nearest to Elmira in age: Lisgar (39.3), Chambly (39.6), West End (39.9) and Vieux-Lachine - Saint-Pierre (40).
Nearby, 1 of 6 towns have older populations than Elmira
Neighbouring places and their median ages; each name opens its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elmira | 31,382 | — | 39.6 | 18% | 13% |
| Bridgeport North | 2,858 | 6.6 km | 37.8 | 9.3% | 27% |
| Waterloo | 142,450 | 8.2 km | 36 | 15% | 28% |
| Bridgeport East | 3,903 | 9.0 km | 38.7 | 13% | 20% |
| Fairfield | 3,497 | 9.5 km | 46 | 24% | 15% |
| Mt. Hope Huron Park | 5,174 | 9.9 km | 35.7 | 11% | 18% |
| Central Frederick | 5,895 | 10.6 km | 39.5 | 18% | 19% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What these tables don’t give. Some things the page can’t show: the Census Profile asks nothing about unpaid care, cars or internet access, and gives no change by age since 2016. Ethnic origins beyond visible minority and Indigenous identity aren’t charted.
- 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. For each measure we take the median of Ontario’s towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, then the median of all Canadian towns. Neither counts whole cities or reserves, and every percentile is a Canadian one.
Questions about Elmira’s residents
What is the median income in Elmira?
$115,000 before tax, in 2020: the middle household’s income in Elmira (Canada’s towns: $86,000).
What is the population of Elmira?
Statistics Canada estimates 31,382 residents for July 2025; the 2021 Census counted 26,999 in Elmira, 8% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Elmira?
39.6 is the median age, younger than 66% of Canadian towns. Under 15: 21%. 65 and over: 18%.
Is Elmira bilingual?
Both official languages are spoken by 4.5% of residents, against a typical 7.5% across Canada’s towns. 94% speak only English and 0% only French; 0.6% grew up with French.
How diverse is Elmira?
Immigrants make up 13% of residents, against 17% across Canada’s towns. 9.4% are members of a visible minority, and 1% are First Nations, Métis or Inuit.
What religion are people in Elmira?
Christian: 68%. No religion: 28%. Another religion: 4.8%.
Is Elmira good for families?
Across Canada’s towns, a typical 16% of residents are under 15; here, 21%. 67% of households are couple families and 6.3% one-parent families. Schools near Elmira 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).