A larger share of households in buildings of five or more storeys than 83% of Canadian towns: 14%
Just over one in ten households are one-parent families, against 8.2% across Canada’s towns. Residents without Canadian citizenship are more common here than in 72% of Canadian towns. The 2021 Census put Forest Hill’s population at 5,760, in 2,235 households. Across Forest Hill, 27% of residents are immigrants.
A median age of 39.4: Forest Hill is younger than 68% of Canadian towns
Every figure here comes from the 2021 Census unless it carries another date. Every five-year age group as a share of residents; ticks mark the typical town.
The biggest five-year age group is 25–29, with 7.5% of residents, 1.3 times the share across Canada’s towns. Locally, 18% of residents are under 15. The highest share aged 65 or over among Ontario’s towns is Northern Bruce Peninsula’s: 41%.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Forest Hill, 39.4. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split.
Larger households than 64% of Canadian towns: 2.6 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-person households: 24%, below three fifths of Canadian towns.
9.6% of residents 15 and over live common-law, below 59% of Canadian towns
How adults live as couples, or don’t, with common-law unions shown on their own.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
28% of adults have never married and don’t live common-law (typical: 27%). Across Canada’s towns, 11% of residents 15 and over live common-law.
In Forest Hill, 38% of households rent their home, more than in 72% of Canadian towns
The kinds of homes people live in, who owns and who rents, and how old the homes are. 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
9.8% of homes were built before 1961 and 2% in 2001 or later. As a yardstick, 25% of households rent their home across Canada’s towns. Households in single-detached houses make up 59%, against 64% across Canada’s towns.
Median household income: $85,900 a year
Incomes here are for 2020, the year before the census, CERB and other pandemic benefits included. Household income before tax: the median, and households by income group.
Households by income · share of households
Household incomes sit at the middle in Forest Hill: half had more than $85,900, near the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Ontario’s towns have a median of $91,600. COVID-19 benefits were paid to 29% of residents with an income, where the typical town had 28%.
Forest Hill: 13% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, above 68% of Canadian towns
Birthplaces and arrival years of immigrants, citizenship and recent moves.
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 (38%) or in Asia (38%). Typically, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns. Recent arrivals are 29% of immigrants (2011 to 2021), beside 27% across Canada’s towns.
Forest Hill ranks below 67% of Canadian towns on residents with no religion: 29%
Identity and faith, in the census’s categories.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
The share of Indigenous residents is 1.5%, against 2.8% across Canada’s towns. On average, just over a third of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns. Among other religions: Muslim (6.1%) and Hindu (2.3%). Compared with other places, visible minority residents are common here: 24%, more than in 60% of Canadian towns.
English is the mother tongue of 70%, and 6.3% speak French as well
Who can speak English and French, mother tongue, and the language spoken most at home.
Can hold a conversation in · share of all residents
Mother tongue · share of all residents
At home, 15% mostly speak another language; 2.5% speak neither English nor French. Forest Hill has fewer residents whose mother tongue is French than 77% of Canadian towns, at 0.9%. Compared with 7.5% across Canada’s towns, 6.3% of residents speak English and French here.
Forest Hill ranks above 57% of Canadian towns on degree holders aged 25 to 64: 31%
Education of residents 25 to 64, by highest credential.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
With no certificate, diploma or degree: 12%, beside a typical 9.5%. By way of comparison, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
A job for 51% of residents aged 15 and over
Counted in May 2021, during COVID-19, these rates catch the job market before it had recovered. Four labour figures from the census. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
The employment rate of 51% is below the typical 58% across Canada’s towns; 19% of residents are 65 or over.
41 towns of 5,663 to 5,843 people: this is the 13th youngest
Towns of about this size, placed by median age.
Median ages here range from 27.8 in Montcalm to 63.2 in Osoyoos. The towns whose median age is nearest to Forest Hill’s: Iris (38.1), Saint-Roch-de-l'Achigan (38.8), Casselman (39.5) and Buena Vista (40).
Forest Hill is younger than 3 of its 6 nearest neighbours
Neighbouring places and their median ages; each name opens its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forest Hill | 5,760 | — | 39.4 | 19% | 27% |
| Meinzinger Park-Lakeside | 5,007 | 0.8 km | 41.6 | 20% | 23% |
| Laurentian Hills | 10,026 | 1.5 km | 35.8 | 13% | 30% |
| Victoria Hills | 10,760 | 1.7 km | 33.5 | 12% | 41% |
| Forest Heights | 14,369 | 1.9 km | 41.9 | 19% | 21% |
| Victoria Park | 3,574 | 2.2 km | 43.5 | 25% | 25% |
| Southdale | 5,277 | 2.3 km | 36.9 | 15% | 28% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. 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.
- Neighbourhoods are sums of small areas. Statistics Canada reports the census by municipality; a neighbourhood’s figures are the sum of its dissemination areas, rounded counts and all, with medians estimated from age and income groups and no 2016 count, as the 2016 areas don’t fit.
- 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.
Questions about Forest Hill’s residents
Is Forest Hill bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 6.3% are. Another 0% speak only French and 91% only English, and French is the first language of 0.9%.
How diverse is Forest Hill?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 17% are immigrants; here, 27%. A visible minority makes up 24% and Indigenous residents 1.5%.
What religion are people in Forest Hill?
Most often Christian (59%) or no religion (29%); other religions make up 12%.
Is Forest Hill good for families?
Children under 15 are 18% of residents, against 16% across Canada’s towns. Couple families make up 53% of households and one-parent families 11%. Schools near Forest Hill are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Forest Hill?
Median total household income in Forest Hill was $85,900 in 2020, against a median of $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Forest Hill?
The 2021 Census counted 5,760 people in Forest Hill.
What is the average age in Forest Hill?
Half the residents are older than 39.4 and half younger, younger than 68% of Canadian towns; 18% are children under 15 and 19% are 65 or over.
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).