Photo: Ryan Hodnett · CC BY-SA 4.0Younger than 86% of Canadian towns: half of Highland West is under 36.3
The share of residents aged 15 to 24 tops 92% of Canadian towns: 15%. Highland West counted 12,476 residents and 4,165 households at the 2021 Census. One-person households: 16% of the total. On visible minority residents, Highland West sits higher than 79% of Canadian towns: 42%.
What stands out about the people of Highland West
Younger than most towns
Half of Highland West’s residents are under 36.3 and half over; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 18% are under 15 and 11% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Below 89% of Canadian towns: 11% of residents are 65 or over
All figures are the 2021 Census’s unless another date is shown. Every five-year age group as a share of residents; ticks mark the typical town.
No age band is larger than 25–29: nearly one in ten residents, 1.4 times the share across Canada’s towns. Typically, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns. Locally, 18% of residents are under 15.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Highland West, 36.3. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split.
Highland West households average 3 people, larger than in 89% of Canadian towns
Private households by type and size.
Against Ontario’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
Across Highland West, nearly one in ten households are one-parent families.
In Highland West, 7.2% of residents 15 and over live common-law, fewer than in 78% 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
Where 46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns, Highland West has 53%. Across Canada’s towns, the share of common-law partners is 11%.
Highland West: 3.6% of households live in a building of five or more storeys, above 70% 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
Households in single-detached houses: 59% here and 64% across Canada’s towns. Newer homes outnumber old: 48% date from 2001 or later, 0.4% from before 1961.
Median household income here: $109,300 a year
Incomes are 2020’s, the census’s reference year, and include pandemic benefits such as CERB. Total household income: the median household, and the spread from low to high.
Households by income · share of households
Highland West’s median household took in $109,300 before tax, 27% more than the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). For Ontario’s towns, the median household income is $91,600. Emergency and recovery benefits reached 31% of those with an income, beside a typical 28%.
Immigrants: 39%, a higher share than 83% 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 45%
When immigrants arrived · share of immigrants
Citizenship and moving · share of residents
Across Canada’s towns, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier; in Highland West, 15%. On average, 17% of residents are immigrants across Canada’s towns. The census found that 13% of residents are not Canadian citizens in the neighbourhood.
28% of residents said they have no religion, below 70% of Canadian towns
Visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion, as residents answered the census.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Indigenous residents make up 0.7%, against 2.8% across Canada’s towns. As a reference point, just over a third of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns. Other faiths: Muslim (13%), Hindu (5.6%) and Sikh (2.4%).
56% have English as their mother tongue; 7% also speak French
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 0.7%, the share of residents whose mother tongue is French is in line with the figure across Canada’s towns.
41% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, a share 73% of Canadian towns don’t reach
From no certificate to a master’s: residents 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
8.2% have no certificate, diploma or degree (typical: 9.5%). The usual figure: 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
An employment rate of 62%
Census day was in May 2021, mid-pandemic: some of these rates are lower than in a usual year. Four labour figures from the census. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
The employment rate of 62% is above the typical 58% across Canada’s towns.
Ranked by age, 6th youngest of 41 towns this size
Towns of about this size, placed by median age.
The youngest is Blackfalds (31.8) and the oldest Elliot Lake (60.4). Nearest to Highland West in age: Wellesley (35.2), Norwich (36), Chalmers (36.6) and Bridlewood (37).
Around Highland West, 4 of 6 towns have a higher median age
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each links to its own page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highland West | 12,476 | — | 36.3 | 11% | 39% |
| Forest Heights | 14,369 | 1.8 km | 41.9 | 19% | 21% |
| Victoria Hills | 10,760 | 1.9 km | 33.5 | 12% | 41% |
| Westmount | 5,048 | 2.2 km | 37.1 | 17% | 28% |
| Forest Hill | 5,760 | 2.7 km | 39.4 | 19% | 27% |
| Meinzinger Park-Lakeside | 5,007 | 3.3 km | 41.6 | 20% | 23% |
| Cherry Hill | 6,304 | 3.3 km | 35.9 | 16% | 26% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The census’s own words. These are self-reported answers: Indigenous identity, immigrant status, religion. The census’s “visible minority” comes from the Employment Equity Act (non-white in colour or race, Indigenous peoples aside), and the page sets each beside other towns without labelling any.
- 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.
- Neighbourhoods are sums of small areas. Statistics Canada publishes the census for municipalities, not neighbourhoods, so these figures add up the dissemination areas inside the neighbourhood. Counts are sums of StatCan’s rounded counts; the median age and income are worked out from the published age and income groups; and 2016 areas don’t add up to these, so there is no 2016 count.
- What these tables don’t give. Unpaid care, car ownership and internet access aren’t in the Census Profile, nor is the change by age since 2016. Ethnic origins other than visible minority and Indigenous identity are left out of the charts.
Questions about Highland West’s residents
What is the median income in Highland West?
$109,300 before tax, in 2020: the middle household’s income in Highland West (Canada’s towns: $86,000).
What is the population of Highland West?
12,476, at the 2021 Census: Statistics Canada makes no later estimate for Highland West alone.
What is the average age in Highland West?
36.3 is the median age, younger than 86% of Canadian towns. Under 15: 18%. 65 and over: 11%.
Is Highland West bilingual?
English and French: 7% speak both (Canada’s towns: 7.5%). English only: 90%. French only: 0%. French mother tongue: 0.7%.
How diverse is Highland West?
Immigrants make up 39% of residents, against 17% across Canada’s towns. 42% are members of a visible minority, and 0.7% are First Nations, Métis or Inuit.
What religion are people in Highland West?
Christian: 46%. No religion: 28%. Another religion: 25%.
Is Highland West good for families?
Across Canada’s towns, a typical 16% of residents are under 15; here, 18%. 61% of households are couple families and 8.8% one-parent families. Schools near Highland West are on its Schools page.
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).