Photo: bgilliard from St. Catharines, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0Forest is older than 97% of Canadian towns: a median age of 56.8
In Forest, 7.8% of residents are aged 15 to 24, beside 11% across Canada’s towns. Here, 84% of households live in a single-detached house. Visible minority residents are rarer here than in 86% of Canadian towns. Statistics Canada puts the town’s population at 12,962 for July 2025. Every figure here is for Lambton Shores as a whole, the municipality Forest belongs to.
What stands out about the people of Forest
Older than most towns
Forest’s median age is 56.8; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 33% are 65 or over, against 19% across Canada’s towns. Ages ↓
Growing faster than most
Between the 2016 and 2021 censuses, Forest went from 10,631 to 11,876 residents (+12%), faster growth than in 87% of Canadian towns. Population change ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
A +12% change since 2016: faster than 87% of Canadian towns
The 2021 Census is the source of every figure here unless a date says otherwise. How the population moved between the last two censuses, and since.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Across Ontario’s towns the median is +6%, and across Canada’s towns +4%. By July 2025, the estimate had risen a further 9%.
Forest ranks above 96% of Canadian towns on residents aged 65 and over: 33%
Every five-year age group as a share of residents; ticks mark the typical town.
12% of residents are under 15; across Canada’s towns the figure is 16%. For comparison, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Forest, 56.8. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split.
Households here average 2.2 people, below 74% 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.
Across Canada’s towns, 27% of households are one person living alone; in Forest, 29%. 6% of households are one-parent families.
A larger share of married residents 15 and over than 82% of Canadian towns: 56%
How adults live as couples, or don’t, with common-law unions shown on their own.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
18% of adults are single and have never married; the typical town has 27%. Typically, 46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns. For Forest, the census puts common-law partners at 9.7%.
Below 64% of Canadian towns: 19% of households rent their home
The kinds of homes people live in, who owns and who rents, and how old the homes are. 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: 29% predate 1961, 20% date from 2001 or later. Renter households make up 25% across Canada’s towns. Nothing unusual on households in buildings of five or more storeys: 0.2%, close to the figure across Canada’s towns.
The midpoint household income is $80,000 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
Household incomes run lower in Forest: half had less than $80,000, 7% under the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). The figure for Ontario’s towns: $91,600. COVID-19 benefits were paid to 21% of residents with an income, where the typical town had 28%.
9.4% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, below 66% of Canadian towns
Birthplaces and arrival years of immigrants, citizenship and recent moves.
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
Compared with 5.8% across Canada’s towns, 1.7% of residents are not Canadian citizens here. 9.2% of residents are immigrants, a lower share than in 66% of Canadian towns. Across Canada’s towns, residents who moved in within the year come to 11%. Immigrants here were most often born in Europe (74%), then in the Americas (16%).
35% of residents said they have no religion, more than in 51% of Canadian towns
Residents’ own answers on visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Here, 2.9% of residents have an Indigenous identity.
93% have English as their mother tongue; 3.2% also speak French
Who can speak English and French, mother tongue, and the language spoken most at home.
Can hold a conversation in · share of all residents
Mother tongue · share of all residents
7.5% of residents speak English and French across Canada’s towns, against 3.2% in Forest. Compared with other places, residents whose mother tongue is French are scarce here: 0.7%, fewer than in 86% of Canadian towns.
Degree holders aged 25 to 64 make up 16% in Forest, less than in 80% of Canadian towns
The highest diploma or degree of adults of working age (25 to 64).
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Some 9.8% have no certificate, diploma or degree, against a typical 9.5%. Across Canada’s towns, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher.
An employment rate of 47%
May 2021 was still a pandemic month: the census’s work figures reflect that. Four labour figures from the census. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
With 33% of residents 65 or over, the employment rate of 47% sits under the typical 58% across Canada’s towns.
Oldest by rank: 1st of 41 towns of 12,706 to 13,221 people
Towns of about this size, placed by median age.
Between Thompson (31) and Forest (56.8) lies the rest of the group. In age, Forest keeps company with Brighton (56) and North Saanich (56.8).
The towns around Forest are all younger
Places nearby, shaded by median age, each linked to its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forest | 12,962 | — | 56.8 | 33% | 9.2% |
| Kettle Point 44 | 1,363 | 12.3 km | 45.2 | 21% | 0% |
| Parkhill | 6,864 | 15.2 km | 44 | 22% | 6.8% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. Indigenous identity, immigrant status and religion are as residents answered them. “Visible minority” follows the Employment Equity Act, meaning people other than Indigenous peoples who are non-white in colour or race. We compare these figures across towns; none is a label for a town.
- 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 Forest’s residents
What religion are people in Forest?
Christian: 64%. No religion: 35%. Another religion: 1.3%.
Is Forest good for families?
Across Canada’s towns, a typical 16% of residents are under 15; here, 12%. 60% of households are couple families and 6% one-parent families. Schools near Forest are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Forest?
$80,000 before tax, in 2020: the middle household’s income in Forest (Canada’s towns: $86,000).
What is the population of Forest?
Statistics Canada estimates 12,962 residents for July 2025; the 2021 Census counted 11,876 in Forest, 12% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Forest?
56.8 is the median age, older than 97% of Canadian towns. Under 15: 12%. 65 and over: 33%.
Is Forest bilingual?
3.2% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 0% speak French only and 97% English only. French is the mother tongue of 0.7%.
How diverse is Forest?
Immigrants make up 9.2% of residents, against 17% across Canada’s towns. 1.9% are members of a visible minority, and 2.9% are First Nations, Métis or Inuit.
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).