Photo: Cindy Funk · CC BY 2.0Goderich is older than 91% of Canadian towns: a median age of 52.8
16% of residents are under 15 across Canada’s towns, against 13% in Goderich. The latest estimate, for July 2025, is 8,412 residents; the 2021 Census found 3,670 households. On the census count, 36% of households are one person living alone. Fewer immigrants than in 72% of Canadian towns: 7.5%.
What stands out about the people of Goderich
Older than most towns
Goderich’s median age is 52.8; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 32% are 65 or over, against 19% across Canada’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Goderich changed by +3% from 2016 to 2021, behind 55% of Canadian towns
The 2021 Census is the source of every figure here unless a date says otherwise. Two census counts, five years apart, and Statistics Canada’s newest estimate.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025 is 7% higher again. The median across Canada’s towns is +4%, and across Ontario’s towns +6%.
Goderich sits above 95% of Canadian towns for residents aged 65 and over (32%)
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
Here 9.3% of residents are aged 15 to 24, where the figure across Canada’s towns is 11%. Elsewhere, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Goderich, 52.8. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 89 men for every 100 women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Smaller households than 83% of Canadian towns: 2.1 people on average
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 in ten households are one-parent families (Canada’s towns: 8.2%).
9.6% of residents 15 and over live common-law, fewer than in 59% of Canadian towns
Marital status of residents 15 and over, with common-law couples counted apart.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Never married and not common-law: 24% of adults (typical: 27%). By way of comparison, 11% of residents 15 and over live common-law across Canada’s towns.
A higher share of renter households than 67% of Canadian towns, at 35%
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
Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in 74% of Canadian towns. 45% of homes were built before 1961 and 12% in 2001 or later. The wider picture: a quarter of households rent their home across Canada’s towns. Where 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns, Goderich has 66%.
Households here have a median income of $69,500 a year
Census incomes cover 2020, when emergency benefits like CERB lifted many households’ totals. What households took in before tax, at the middle and across income groups.
Households by income · share of households
Household incomes run lower in Goderich: half had less than $69,500, 19% under the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Across Ontario’s towns the median is $91,600. Emergency and recovery benefits reached 20% of those with an income, beside a typical 28%.
7.5% 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
8.7% of immigrants arrived between 2011 and 2021, against 27% across Canada’s towns. What’s more, residents without Canadian citizenship are rarer here than in 77% of Canadian towns. On the census count, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier.
More residents with no religion than 62% of Canadian towns: 39%
Identity and faith, in the census’s categories.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Across Canada’s towns, 15% of residents belong to a visible minority; in Goderich, 2.9%. Against that, 35% of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns. The share of Indigenous residents stands at 2%.
English is the mother tongue of 94%, and 4.2% 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
0.6% of residents have French as their mother tongue, about the same as across Canada’s towns. Goderich has fewer bilingual residents than 84% of Canadian towns, at 4.2%.
Fewer degree holders aged 25 to 64 than 64% of Canadian towns: 21%
Education of residents 25 to 64, by highest credential.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
No diploma or degree: 9.4% here, 9.5% in the typical town. Elsewhere, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
48% of adults were employed in May 2021
The census was taken in May 2021, during the pandemic, so these rates show a labour market still recovering. The census’s work rates at a glance. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
At 48%, fewer residents are in work than the typical 58% across Canada’s towns, and 32% are 65 or over.
Ranked by age, 4th oldest of 41 towns this size
Similar-sized towns by median age; each dot is a town.
The youngest of these towns is Garneau, at 30.2; the oldest, Electoral Area G, Nanaimo, is at 60.8. Nearest to Goderich in age: Clinton (48.8), Bayfield (52), Muskoka Lakes (57.2) and Electoral Area A, Comox Valley (58).
No nearby town is as old as Goderich
Neighbouring places and their median ages; each name opens its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goderich | 8,412 | — | 52.8 | 32% | 7.5% |
| Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh | 7,052 | 13.3 km | 51.2 | 28% | 8.2% |
| Clinton | 8,318 | 15.1 km | 48.8 | 27% | 7.3% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. The Census Profile has no unpaid care, cars or internet access, and no change by age since 2016; ethnic origins beyond 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.
Questions about Goderich’s residents
What religion are people in Goderich?
Christian: 59%. No religion: 39%. Another religion: 1.9%.
Is Goderich good for families?
Across Canada’s towns, a typical 16% of residents are under 15; here, 13%. 49% of households are couple families and 9.9% one-parent families. Schools near Goderich are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Goderich?
$69,500 before tax, in 2020: the middle household’s income in Goderich (Canada’s towns: $86,000).
What is the population of Goderich?
Statistics Canada estimates 8,412 residents for July 2025; the 2021 Census counted 7,881 in Goderich, 3% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Goderich?
52.8 is the median age, older than 91% of Canadian towns. Under 15: 13%. 65 and over: 32%.
Is Goderich bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 4.2% are. Another 0% speak only French and 96% only English, and French is the first language of 0.6%.
How diverse is Goderich?
Immigrants make up 7.5% of residents, against 17% across Canada’s towns. 2.9% are members of a visible minority, and 2% 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).