Photo: Jason F. Voll · CC BY-SA 3.0In Fairfield, 11% of residents are under 15, fewer than in 93% of Canadian towns
The median age in Fairfield is 46, higher than in 72% of Canadian towns. Residents with no religion: 39% of the total. The neighbourhood counted 3,497 residents and 1,730 households at the 2021 Census. With residents who moved in within the year at 9.4%, Fairfield is behind nearly two thirds of Canadian towns on that count.
What stands out about the people of Fairfield
A neighbourhood of renters
Renters are 50% of households, more than in 85% of Canadian towns, and 49% of households live in an apartment. Homes ↓
Many people living alone
One-person households make up 40%, more than in 88% of Canadian towns, and 24% of residents are 65 or over. Households ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
8.4% of residents are aged 15 to 24, fewer than in 87% of Canadian towns
Every figure here comes from the 2021 Census unless it carries another date. Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
Against a figure of 19% across Canada’s towns, the share of residents aged 65 and over in Fairfield comes in at 24%. The biggest five-year age group is 30–34, with nearly one in ten residents, 1.4 times the share across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Fairfield, 46. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
40% of households are one person living alone, a share 88% of Canadian towns don’t reach
Household types, then household sizes.
Against Ontario’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
A household here has 2 people on average; across Canada’s towns, 2.4. One-parent families are rarer here than in 76% of Canadian towns. As a yardstick, 27% of households are one person living alone across Canada’s towns.
41% of residents 15 and over are married, below 67% of Canadian towns
Marital status of residents 15 and over, with common-law couples counted apart.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
27% 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. Common-law partners: 13% of the total.
27% of households live in a building of five or more storeys, a share 90% of Canadian towns don’t reach
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
Against a figure of 25% across Canada’s towns, the share of renter households in Fairfield comes in at 50%. Compared with other places, households in single-detached houses are scarce here: 49%, fewer than in 69% of Canadian towns. 52% of homes were built before 1961 and 3.4% in 2001 or later.
Median household income: $73,300 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
The middle household in Fairfield had $73,300 before tax, 15% below the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). $91,600 is the median household income across Ontario’s towns. In 2020, 25% of income recipients drew a COVID-19 emergency or recovery benefit; the typical town had 28%.
6% of residents are not Canadian citizens, more than in 51% of Canadian towns
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 immigrants were born in Europe (54%) or in Asia (17%). The share of residents without Canadian citizenship across Canada’s towns is 5.8%. Of the immigrants living here, 26% came between 2011 and 2021; across Canada’s towns the share is 27%.
3.1% of residents have an Indigenous identity, more than in 53% of Canadian towns
Visible minority and Indigenous identity, then religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Where 15% of residents belong to a visible minority across Canada’s towns, Fairfield has 9.8%. For Indigenous residents, the comparison across Canada’s towns is 2.8%.
English is the mother tongue of 85%, and 5.9% 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
At home, 5% mostly speak another language; 0.1% speak neither English nor French. Fewer bilingual residents than in 64% of Canadian towns: 5.9%. 1.3% of residents have French as their mother tongue, about the same as across Canada’s towns.
In Fairfield, 35% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, more than in 63% of Canadian towns
Highest certificate, diploma or degree of residents aged 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
No diploma or degree: 11% here, 9.5% in the typical town. As a yardstick, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
53% of residents 15 and over were in work
Counted in May 2021, during COVID-19, these rates catch the job market before it had recovered. The census’s work rates at a glance. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
With 24% of residents 65 or over, the employment rate of 53% sits under the typical 58% across Canada’s towns.
The 13th oldest of 41 towns of 3,431 to 3,564 people
Similar-sized towns by median age; each dot is a town.
At one end is Richfield (33.5), at the other Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap (61.2). Nearest to Fairfield in age: Three Hills (44.8), Buckland No. 491 (46), Lawrencetown (46.5) and Fessenden (46.7).
Fairfield is older than every town around it
The closest towns, coloured by how old their residents are.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairfield | 3,497 | — | 46 | 24% | 15% |
| Mt. Hope Huron Park | 5,174 | 0.4 km | 35.7 | 11% | 18% |
| Central Frederick | 5,895 | 1.3 km | 39.5 | 18% | 19% |
| Bridgeport East | 3,903 | 1.3 km | 38.7 | 13% | 20% |
| City Commercial Core | 2,581 | 1.6 km | 32.7 | 9.1% | 26% |
| Cherry Hill | 6,304 | 2.0 km | 35.9 | 16% | 26% |
| Auditorium | 3,918 | 2.1 km | 39.3 | 15% | 14% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. 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. The middle of Ontario’s towns of 2,500 or more comes first, the middle of all Canadian towns second; cities as a whole and First Nations reserves stay out, and percentiles are within Canada.
- Neighbourhoods are sums of small areas. The figures sum the neighbourhood’s dissemination areas, since the census is published for municipalities only. Medians are estimated from the age and income groups, counts carry Statistics Canada’s rounding, and no 2016 count matches these boundaries.
Questions about Fairfield’s residents
What religion are people in Fairfield?
Christian: 55%. No religion: 39%. Another religion: 6.2%.
Is Fairfield good for families?
Across Canada’s towns, a typical 16% of residents are under 15; here, 11%. 45% of households are couple families and 6.6% one-parent families. Schools near Fairfield are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Fairfield?
$73,300 before tax, in 2020: the middle household’s income in Fairfield (Canada’s towns: $86,000).
What is the population of Fairfield?
The 2021 Census counted 3,497 people in Fairfield.
What is the average age in Fairfield?
46 is the median age, older than 72% of Canadian towns. Under 15: 11%. 65 and over: 24%.
Is Fairfield bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 5.9% are. Another 0% speak only French and 94% only English, and French is the first language of 1.3%.
How diverse is Fairfield?
Immigrants make up 15% of residents, against 17% across Canada’s towns. 9.8% are members of a visible minority, and 3.1% are First Nations, Métis or Inuit.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population. 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).