Photo: Tabercil · CC BY 3.0In Mount Forest, 19% of residents are under 15, more than in 77% of Canadian towns
Of the immigrants living here, 12% came between 2011 and 2021; across Canada’s towns the share is 27%. Its population is up 4% on 2016. Census figures put residents aged 65 and over at 22% in Mount Forest. 3.6% of residents belong to a visible minority, a lower share than in 74% of Canadian towns. Every figure here is for Wellington North as a whole, the municipality Mount Forest belongs to.
Mount Forest’s population changed by +4% since 2016, more than in 51% of Canadian towns
All figures are the 2021 Census’s unless another date is shown. How the population moved between the last two censuses, and since.
Change, 2016 to 2021
By July 2025, the estimate had risen a further 16%.
Half of Mount Forest is under 42, younger than 51% of Canadian towns
Age bands of five years, the town’s bars against the typical town’s ticks.
The biggest five-year age group is 55–59, with 7.7% of residents. 11% of residents are aged 15 to 24, about the same as across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Mount Forest, 42. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women.
Bigger households than 58% of Canadian towns: 2.5 people each on average
Who shares a home: household types and sizes.
Against Ontario’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
8.6% of households are one-parent families. There is little gap on one-person households: 27%, about the same as across Canada’s towns.
More married residents 15 and over than 56% of Canadian towns: 48%
Residents 15 and over by marital status; the census counts common-law couples separately.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Singles who have never married make up 24% of adults, beside a typical 27%. By way of comparison, 46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns. The share of common-law partners stands at 11%.
75% of households live in a single-detached house, a share 65% of Canadian towns don’t reach
Occupied homes by type, by owners and renters, and by when they were built. 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
30% of homes were built before 1961 and 19% in 2001 or later. Typically, 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns. At 0.1%, the share of households in buildings of five or more storeys is in line with the figure across Canada’s towns.
Median gross household income: $78,000 a year
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
Mount Forest’s median household took in $78,000 before tax, 9% less than the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Among Ontario’s towns, the typical figure is $91,600. Emergency and recovery benefits reached 24% of those with an income, beside a typical 28%.
In Mount Forest, 9.9% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, fewer than in 61% of Canadian towns
Immigrants, newcomers and movers.
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 (73%) or in the Americas (14%). The benchmark for residents who moved in within the year across Canada’s towns: 11%. Immigrants are rarer here than in 78% of Canadian towns. Here 2.4% of residents are not Canadian citizens, where the figure across Canada’s towns is 5.8%.
Fewer residents with no religion than 54% of Canadian towns: 34%
Residents’ own answers on visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Locally, 1.8% of residents have an Indigenous identity. Across Canada’s towns, the share of residents with no religion is 35%.
86% have English as their mother tongue; 2.5% also speak French
Knowledge of the two official languages, first languages, and the language of home.
Can hold a conversation in · share of all residents
Mother tongue · share of all residents
At 0.6%, residents whose mother tongue is French sit close to the figure across Canada’s towns. 8.8% most often speak a language other than English or French at home, and 0.9% speak neither official language. Bilingual residents are rarer here than in 96% of Canadian towns.
Below 91% of Canadian towns: 12% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher
The highest diploma or degree of adults of working age (25 to 64).
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
At the bottom of the ladder, 22% hold no certificate of any kind, against 9.5% in the typical town. Across the comparison, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
Employment: 60% of residents 15 and over had a job
These rates date from May 2021, during the pandemic, and run lower than a normal year’s. The census’s labour rates, in brief. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
Across Canada’s towns the typical rate is 58%, much like this 60%.
18th highest median age among 41 towns of 14,119 to 14,684
Median age of the Canadian towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
La Crète is the youngest of them at 23.4; Pointe-de-Sainte-Foy, at 57, the oldest. Closest in median age to Mount Forest are Briar Hill-Belgravia (41.8), Forest Heights (41.9), Pont-Viau (42.7) and Maricourt (42.8).
Of the 5 towns nearest Mount Forest, 1 are older
Places nearby, shaded by median age, each linked to its page. No closer places have figures: these lie 20–30 km from Mount Forest.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Forest | 14,407 | — | 42 | 22% | 6% |
| Drayton | 11,518 | 19.6 km | 32 | 12% | 7.5% |
| Palmerston | 10,029 | 20.2 km | 40.8 | 21% | 7% |
| Grand Valley | 4,759 | 23.6 km | 36.8 | 12% | 16% |
| Dundalk | 11,599 | 27.6 km | 36 | 15% | 12% |
| Fergus | 34,565 | 29.6 km | 44.4 | 22% | 11% |
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. Two medians frame each figure: one for Ontario’s towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, one for all Canadian towns of that size, with whole cities and First Nations reserves left out. Percentiles rank the town within Canada.
- What these tables don’t give. Some things the page can’t show: the Census Profile asks nothing about unpaid care, cars or internet access, and gives no change by age since 2016. Ethnic origins beyond visible minority and Indigenous identity aren’t charted.
Questions about Mount Forest’s residents
Is Mount Forest good for families?
Under 15: 19% (Canada’s towns: 16%). Couple families: 56% of households. One-parent families: 8.6%. Schools near Mount Forest are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Mount Forest?
The median household in Mount Forest took in $78,000 in 2020, against $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Mount Forest?
Mount Forest had about 14,407 residents in July 2025, Statistics Canada estimates; the 2021 Census counted 12,431, 4% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Mount Forest?
A median age of 42, younger than 51% of Canadian towns. Children under 15 make up 19%, and people 65 and over 22%.
Is Mount Forest bilingual?
2.5% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 0% speak French only and 97% English only. French is the mother tongue of 0.6%.
How diverse is Mount Forest?
6% of residents are immigrants (Canada’s towns: 17%); 3.6% belong to a visible minority and 1.8% have an Indigenous identity.
What religion are people in Mount Forest?
65% are Christian and 34% have no religion; 1.5% 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).