Photo: Percy Russell Doherty · Public domain27% of residents have an Indigenous identity, more than in 98% of Canadian towns
Across Canada’s towns, nearly one in ten households are one-parent families; in Fort Frances, 12%. The share of households in single-detached houses stands at 77%. Half of the town’s residents are over 46.4, older than in 74% of Canadian towns. Statistics Canada puts the town’s population at 7,607 for July 2025.
What stands out about the people of Fort Frances
First Nations, Métis and Inuit residents
27% of residents identify as First Nations, Métis or Inuit, more than in 98% of Canadian towns; 16% are Registered or Treaty Indians. Identity & religion ↓
Fewer people than before
Between the 2016 and 2021 censuses, Fort Frances went from 7,739 to 7,466 residents (−4%), slower growth than in 93% of Canadian towns. Population change ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Slower than most: −4% since 2016, behind 93% 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
Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025 is 2% higher again.
A larger share of residents aged 65 and over than 74% of Canadian towns: 23%
Age bands of five years, the town’s bars against the typical town’s ticks.
The biggest five-year age group is 60–64, with 8.6% of residents. At 15%, the share of children under 15 is lower than in 62% of Canadian towns. Elsewhere, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Fort Frances, 46.4. 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.
Above 81% of Canadian towns: 36% of households are one person living alone
Who shares a home: household types and sizes.
Against Ontario’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
In Fort Frances the average household is 2.1 people, beside 2.4 across Canada’s towns. Across Canada’s towns, the share of one-person households is 27%.
Below 65% of Canadian towns: 41% of residents 15 and over are married
Residents 15 and over by marital status; the census counts common-law couples separately.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Where 11% of residents 15 and over live common-law across Canada’s towns, Fort Frances has 12%. 28% of adults are single and have never married; the typical town has 27%.
Fort Frances: 27% of households rent their home, above 53% of Canadian towns
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
Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in 74% of Canadian towns. The benchmark for renter households across Canada’s towns: 25%. 45% of homes were built before 1961 and 6.7% in 2001 or later.
Household income at the median: $76,500 a year
Census incomes cover 2020, when emergency benefits like CERB lifted many households’ totals. Income per household, before tax, with the groups it falls into.
Households by income · share of households
Fort Frances’s median household took in $76,500 before tax, 11% less than the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Household incomes across Ontario’s towns have a median of $91,600. 18% of income recipients received COVID-19 emergency or recovery benefits (typical: 28%).
5.3% of residents are immigrants
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
The largest groups of immigrants were born in the Americas (47%) and in Europe (32%). On immigrants, Fort Frances sits lower than 81% of Canadian towns: 5.3%. Against a figure of 5.8% across Canada’s towns, the share of residents without Canadian citizenship in Fort Frances comes in at 2.5%.
Above 86% of Canadian towns: 50% of residents said they have no religion
Residents’ own answers on visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
The figure for visible minority residents is 2.6% in Fort Frances and 15% across Canada’s towns. Typically, just over a third of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns.
94% have English as their mother tongue; 4% also speak French
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
At 1%, the share of residents whose mother tongue is French is in line with the figure across Canada’s towns. Lower than in 86% of Canadian towns: 4% of residents speak English and French.
Below 71% of Canadian towns: 19% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher
The highest diploma or degree of adults of working age (25 to 64).
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Without any certificate: 10% of 25- to 64-year-olds (typical: 9.5%).
Employment: 55% of residents 15 and over had a job
These rates date from May 2021, during the pandemic, and run lower than a normal year’s. The census’s labour rates, in brief. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
Fewer work here than in the typical town: 55%, against 58% across Canada’s towns. 23% of residents are 65 or over.
13th highest median age among 41 towns of 7,447 to 7,770
Median age of the Canadian towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
Median ages climb from 34.4 (Ambleside) to 57.6 (Louiseville) across the group. By median age, Fort Frances sits among Chatsworth (46), Mountview (46.4), Saint-Félix-de-Valois (47.2) and Shefford (47.2).
Fort Frances sits below 4 of its 5 closest neighbours on median age
Places nearby, shaded by median age, each linked to its page. Fort Frances has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 22–137 km out.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Frances | 7,607 | — | 46.4 | 23% | 5.3% |
| Rainy River, Unorganized | 1,498 | 22.0 km | 54.4 | 26% | 5.6% |
| Emo | 1,255 | 31.1 km | 41.2 | 19% | 5.5% |
| Machin | 1,060 | 129.8 km | 53.6 | 27% | 9.7% |
| Atikokan | 2,796 | 132.4 km | 51.6 | 27% | 5.2% |
| Dryden | 7,808 | 136.7 km | 48 | 24% | 6.1% |
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. 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.
Questions about Fort Frances’s residents
What is the average age in Fort Frances?
A median age of 46.4, older than 74% of Canadian towns. Children under 15 make up 15%, and people 65 and over 23%.
Is Fort Frances bilingual?
4% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 0% speak French only and 96% English only. French is the mother tongue of 1%.
How diverse is Fort Frances?
5.3% of residents are immigrants (Canada’s towns: 17%); 2.6% belong to a visible minority and 27% have an Indigenous identity.
What religion are people in Fort Frances?
48% are Christian and 50% have no religion; 2.8% follow another religion.
Is Fort Frances good for families?
Under 15: 15% (Canada’s towns: 16%). Couple families: 46% of households. One-parent families: 12%. Schools near Fort Frances are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Fort Frances?
The median household in Fort Frances took in $76,500 in 2020, against $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Fort Frances?
Fort Frances had about 7,607 residents in July 2025, Statistics Canada estimates; the 2021 Census counted 7,466, 4% fewer than 2016.
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).