Photo: P199 · Public domainOlder than 99% of Canadian towns: half of Highlands East is over 58.8
Against a figure of 64% across Canada’s towns, the share of households in single-detached houses in Highlands East comes in at 97%. In Highlands East, 6.7% of residents are aged 15 to 24. More residents with no religion than in 80% of Canadian towns: 46%. The latest estimate, for July 2025, is 4,372 residents; the 2021 Census found 1,875 households.
What stands out about the people of Highlands East
Older than most towns
The middle resident of Highlands East is 58.8; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 33% are 65 or over, against 19% across Canada’s towns. Ages ↓
Growing faster than most
Highlands East went from 3,343 people in 2016 to 3,830 in 2021, +15%: faster growth than in 92% of Canadian towns. Population change ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Faster growth than 92% of Canadian towns: Highlands East changed by +15% since 2016
The figures are the 2021 Census’s, except where another date is given. Two census counts, five years apart, and Statistics Canada’s newest estimate.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025 is 14% higher again. The median across Canada’s towns is +4%, and across Ontario’s towns +6%.
More residents aged 65 and over than 96% of Canadian towns: 33%
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
No age band is larger than 60–64: 14% of residents, 2 times the share across Canada’s towns. The wider picture: 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns. For Highlands East, the census puts children under 15 at 8.6%.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Highlands East, 58.8. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
47% women, 53% men
About 112 men for every 100 women.
Households here average 2 people, below 90% 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, 8.2% of households are one-parent families; in Highlands East, 5.6%. In Highlands East, 34% of households are one person living alone.
50% of residents 15 and over are married, a share 60% of Canadian towns don’t reach
Marital status of residents 15 and over, with common-law couples counted apart.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Nearly a fifth of adults have never married and don’t live common-law (typical: 27%). The wider picture: 46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns. Census figures put common-law partners at 12% in Highlands East.
Highlands East ranks below 86% of Canadian towns on renter households: 11%
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
9.1% of homes need major repairs, against a typical 5.8%. Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in 74% of Canadian towns. As a yardstick, a quarter of households rent their home across Canada’s towns.
Half above, half below $63,600 a year in household income
Census incomes are for 2020, the year before the census, when CERB and other pandemic benefits topped up many households. Income per household, before tax, with the groups it falls into.
Households by income · share of households
At $63,600, the middle household in Highlands East earned 26% less than the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Among Ontario’s towns, the typical figure is $91,600. The pandemic’s benefits: 22% of income recipients, against 28% in the typical town.
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
Most recent wave: 5.3% of immigrants arrived in 2011–2021 (Canada’s towns: 27%). Here, 1.4% of residents are not Canadian citizens. Lower than in 72% of Canadian towns: 7.5% of residents are immigrants.
Highlands East ranks above 81% of Canadian towns on Indigenous residents: 7.7%
Residents’ own answers on visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
With visible minority residents at 1.3%, Highlands East is behind 92% of Canadian towns on that count. The share of Indigenous residents across Canada’s towns is 2.8%.
English is the mother tongue of 94%, and 3.4% 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
1% of residents have French as their mother tongue, about the same as across Canada’s towns. Fewer bilingual residents than in 91% of Canadian towns: 3.4%.
In Highlands East, 14% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, fewer than in 87% of Canadian towns
The highest diploma or degree of adults of working age (25 to 64).
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
With no certificate, diploma or degree: 17%, beside a typical 9.5%. As a reference point, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
Employment: 34% of residents 15 and over had a job
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.
With 33% of residents 65 or over, the employment rate of 34% sits under the typical 58% across Canada’s towns.
The 1st oldest of 41 towns of 4,292 to 4,456 people
Similar-sized towns by median age; each dot is a town.
Median ages here range from 31.9 in Glenridding Heights to 58.8 in Highlands East. Bancroft (56) and Grand Forks (56): the towns nearest Highlands East in median age.
1 of the 5 nearest towns are older than Highlands East
Places nearby, shaded by median age, each linked to its page. Distances here run 18–36 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Highlands East.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highlands East | 4,372 | — | 58.8 | 33% | 7.5% |
| Haliburton Village | 8,100 | 18.3 km | 59.2 | 36% | 7.8% |
| Faraday | 1,820 | 24.7 km | 57.2 | 31% | 8.8% |
| Minden Hills | 7,841 | 35.0 km | 58.8 | 35% | 8.7% |
| Bancroft | 4,331 | 35.1 km | 56 | 34% | 5.3% |
| Hastings Highlands | 4,957 | 35.9 km | 57.6 | 33% | 8.6% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What these tables don’t give. For origins the charts stop at visible minority and Indigenous identity, and the Census Profile has nothing on unpaid care, cars or the internet, or on change by age since 2016.
- The census’s own words. “Visible minority” is the census’s term from the Employment Equity Act: people, other than Indigenous peoples, who are non-white in colour or race. Indigenous identity, immigrant status and religion are as residents answered. The page compares them with other towns and never labels a town by them.
- Against Ontario’s towns and Canada’s towns. Provincial and national yardsticks: Ontario’s towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents, and all Canadian towns of that size. No whole city and no First Nations reserve is in either median.
Questions about Highlands East’s residents
Is Highlands East bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 3.4% are. Another 0% speak only French and 97% only English, and French is the first language of 1%.
How diverse is Highlands East?
Immigrants: 7.5% (Canada’s towns: 17%). Visible minority: 1.3%. Indigenous identity: 7.7%.
What religion are people in Highlands East?
46% said they have no religion and 53% that they are Christian; 0.9% named another faith.
Is Highlands East good for families?
8.6% of residents are under 15 (Canada’s towns: 16%); couple families are 52% of households and one-parent families 5.6%. Schools near Highlands East are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Highlands East?
Half of Highlands East’s households had more than $63,600 in 2020, before tax; across Canada’s towns the median was $86,000.
What is the population of Highlands East?
About 4,372, by Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025. The 2021 Census found 3,830 people in Highlands East, 15% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Highlands East?
The median age is 58.8, older than 99% of Canadian towns. 8.6% are under 15 and 33% 65 or older.
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).