Photo: P199 · Public domainOlder than 97% of Canadian towns: half of Hastings Highlands is over 57.6
By its share of residents aged 15 to 24 (7%), Hastings Highlands is below 96% of Canadian towns. At 8.5%, the share of renter households is lower than in 93% of Canadian towns. The 2021 Census found 2,005 households locally; by July 2025 the population was about 4,957. 1.6% of residents belong to a visible minority.
What stands out about the people of Hastings Highlands
First Nations, Métis and Inuit residents
11% of residents identify as First Nations, Métis or Inuit, more than in 88% of Canadian towns; 1.8% are Registered or Treaty Indians. Identity & religion ↓
Older than most towns
Line Hastings Highlands’s residents up by age and the one in the middle is 57.6; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 33% are 65 or over, against 19% across Canada’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Since 2016, Hastings Highlands has grown +8%, faster than 70% of Canadian towns
Unless a figure says otherwise, it is from the 2021 Census. Residents at the 2016 and 2021 censuses and the latest estimate, with the 2016–2021 change beside other towns.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Across Canada’s towns, half of towns changed by more than +4%; across Ontario’s towns, by more than +6%. Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025 is 13% higher again.
More residents aged 65 and over than 96% of Canadian towns: 33%
Residents by five-year age band, each beside the typical town (the tick).
11% of residents are under 15 (Canada’s towns: 16%). The wider picture: 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Hastings Highlands, 57.6. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About 106 men for every 100 women.
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.
5.2% of households are one-parent families; across Canada’s towns the figure is 8.2%. One-person households: 28% of the total.
In Hastings Highlands, 55% of residents 15 and over are married, more than in 81% of Canadian towns
Married, common-law, single: residents 15 and over.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
17% of adults have never married and don’t live common-law (typical: 27%). Against that, 46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns. The share of common-law partners stands at 11%.
Hastings Highlands ranks above 99% of Canadian towns on households in single-detached houses: 97%
Dwelling types, tenure and age of the housing. 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
Just over a fifth of homes were built before 1961 and 21% in 2001 or later. Measured more widely, 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns. On households in buildings of five or more storeys, 0.2% here is much the same as across Canada’s towns.
Household income at the median: $69,000 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
The middle household in Hastings Highlands had $69,000 before tax, 20% below the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Across Ontario’s towns the median is $91,600. In 2020, 22% of income recipients drew a COVID-19 emergency or recovery benefit; the typical town had 28%.
Only 10% of residents lived at another address a year earlier in Hastings Highlands
Where immigrants were born and when they came, and how recently residents moved in.
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
Most immigrants were born in Europe (65%) or in the Americas (21%). Across Canada’s towns, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier. Lower than in 83% of Canadian towns: 1.4% of residents are not Canadian citizens. What’s more, 17% of residents are immigrants across Canada’s towns, against 8.6% in Hastings Highlands.
More Indigenous residents than 88% of Canadian towns: 11%
Residents’ own answers on visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
The figure for residents with no religion is 38% in Hastings Highlands and 35% across Canada’s towns. Across the comparison, 2.8% of residents have an Indigenous identity across Canada’s towns.
93% have English as their mother tongue; 4.3% also speak French
The official languages residents can speak, and the ones they learned first.
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 4.3% in Hastings Highlands. Across Hastings Highlands, 1.3% of residents have French as their mother tongue.
Hastings Highlands sits below 83% of Canadian towns for degree holders aged 25 to 64 (15%)
The highest diploma or degree of adults of working age (25 to 64).
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
14% of those aged 25 to 64 have no formal credential, where the typical town has 9.5%.
An employment rate of 40%
Census day was in May 2021, mid-pandemic: some of these rates are lower than in a usual year. Work, briefly: employment, unemployment, participation and working from home. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
With 33% of residents 65 or over, the employment rate of 40% sits under the typical 58% across Canada’s towns.
41 towns of 4,867 to 5,063 people: this is the 3rd oldest
The Canadian towns closest in population, from youngest to oldest.
Between Westdale South (31.1) and Northern Bruce Peninsula (61.6) lies the rest of the group. Closest in median age to Hastings Highlands are Bells Corners East (53.1), Palliser (53.6), Rivière-Rouge (58) and Northern Bruce Peninsula (61.6).
Every neighbour of Hastings Highlands has a younger population
Places nearby, shaded by median age, each linked to its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hastings Highlands | 4,957 | — | 57.6 | 33% | 8.6% |
| Bancroft | 4,331 | 13.4 km | 56 | 34% | 5.3% |
| Carlow/Mayo | 1,048 | 15.6 km | 55.2 | 30% | 7.4% |
| Faraday | 1,820 | 18.7 km | 57.2 | 31% | 8.8% |
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. In the census, “visible minority” is the Employment Equity Act’s term for people who are non-white in colour or race and not Indigenous. Like immigrant status, Indigenous identity and religion, which residents reported themselves, it is compared with other towns, never turned into 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 Hastings Highlands’s residents
Is Hastings Highlands good for families?
Under 15: 11% (Canada’s towns: 16%). Couple families: 59% of households. One-parent families: 5.2%. Schools near Hastings Highlands are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Hastings Highlands?
The median household in Hastings Highlands took in $69,000 in 2020, against $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Hastings Highlands?
Hastings Highlands had about 4,957 residents in July 2025, Statistics Canada estimates; the 2021 Census counted 4,385, 8% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Hastings Highlands?
A median age of 57.6, older than 97% of Canadian towns. Children under 15 make up 11%, and people 65 and over 33%.
Is Hastings Highlands bilingual?
English and French: 4.3% speak both (Canada’s towns: 7.5%). English only: 96%. French only: 0%. French mother tongue: 1.3%.
How diverse is Hastings Highlands?
8.6% of residents are immigrants (Canada’s towns: 17%); 1.6% belong to a visible minority and 11% have an Indigenous identity.
What religion are people in Hastings Highlands?
61% are Christian and 38% have no religion; 1.1% follow another religion.
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).