Photo: Hayden Soloviev · CC BY 4.0North Bay: 11% of residents have an Indigenous identity, above 88% of Canadian towns
By its share of households in single-detached houses (49%), North Bay is below 70% of Canadian towns. About 62,062 people lived in the town in July 2025, Statistics Canada estimates. One-person households: just over a third of the total. At 22%, the share of residents aged 65 and over is higher than in two thirds of Canadian towns.
+2% since 2016, a pace below 63% of Canadian towns
Every figure here comes from the 2021 Census unless it carries another date. How the population moved between the last two censuses, and since.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Across Ontario’s towns the median is +6%, and across Canada’s towns +4%. By July 2025, the estimate had risen a further 18%.
Older than 62% of Canadian towns: half of North Bay is over 44
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
The largest age band is 55–59: 7.8% of residents. Fewer children under 15 than in 68% of Canadian towns: 14%.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ North Bay, 44. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women.
2.2 people per household, fewer than in 74% of Canadian towns
Household types, then household sizes.
Against Ontario’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
By its share of one-parent families (10%), North Bay is above 77% of Canadian towns.
North Bay ranks below 68% of Canadian towns on married residents 15 and over: 40%
Marital status of residents 15 and over, with common-law couples counted apart.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
29% of adults have never married and don’t live common-law (typical: 27%). North Bay has more common-law partners than 66% of Canadian towns, at 13%. The usual figure: 46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns.
Households in buildings of five or more storeys make up 8.9% in North Bay, more than in 78% of Canadian towns
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
30% of homes were built before 1961 and 8.2% in 2001 or later. Compared with other places, renter households are common here: 41%, more than in just over three quarters of Canadian towns.
The median household brings in $72,000 a year
Census incomes cover 2020, when emergency benefits like CERB lifted many households’ totals. Total household income: the median household, and the spread from low to high.
Households by income · share of households
The middle household in North Bay had $72,000 before tax, 16% below the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Ontario’s towns have a median of $91,600. The pandemic’s benefits: 25% of income recipients, against 28% in the typical town.
Residents who moved in within the year: 13%, a higher share than 65% 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
Of the immigrants living here, 20% came between 2011 and 2021; across Canada’s towns the share is 27%. Fewer immigrants than in 81% of Canadian towns: 5.1%. The wider picture: just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns. 2.2% of residents are not Canadian citizens.
North Bay sits above 70% of Canadian towns for residents with no religion (42%)
Visible minority and Indigenous identity, then religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
4.4% of residents belong to a visible minority and 11% have an Indigenous identity, against 15% and 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.
North Bay sits above 77% of Canadian towns for bilingual residents (24%)
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
By its share of residents whose mother tongue is French (11%), North Bay is above 76% of Canadian towns. Against that, 7.5% of residents speak English and French across Canada’s towns.
Below 57% of Canadian towns: 24% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher
Highest certificate, diploma or degree of residents aged 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Some 10% have no certificate, diploma or degree, against a typical 9.5%. Typically, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
In work on census day: 51% of adults
These rates date from May 2021, during the pandemic, and run lower than a normal year’s. The census’s work rates at a glance. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
51% of residents 15 and over have a job, against a typical 58% across Canada’s towns; 22% are 65 or more.
Ranked by age, 14th oldest of 41 towns this size
Similar-sized towns by median age; each dot is a town.
The youngest is Grande Prairie (34) and the oldest Shawinigan (54.4). By median age, North Bay sits among Dollard-Des Ormeaux (43.6), St. Thomas (43.6), Belleville (45.2) and Welland (45.2).
North Bay is younger than every town around it
The closest towns, coloured by how old their residents are.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Bay | 62,062 | — | 44 | 22% | 5.1% |
| Callander | 4,021 | 14.0 km | 50.4 | 24% | 4.3% |
| East Ferris | 5,835 | 15.5 km | 48 | 21% | 3.7% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The census’s own words. The census takes “visible minority” from the Employment Equity Act: anyone other than Indigenous peoples who is non-white in colour or race. Indigenous identity, immigrant status and religion are what residents reported, compared here with other towns and never used as a label.
- 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.
- What these tables don’t give. Not in the Census Profile: unpaid care, cars, internet access, and how each age group has changed since 2016. We also chart no ethnic origins besides visible minority and Indigenous identity.
Questions about North Bay’s residents
Is North Bay bilingual?
24% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 0.3% speak French only and 76% English only. French is the mother tongue of 11%.
How diverse is North Bay?
5.1% of residents are immigrants (Canada’s towns: 17%); 4.4% belong to a visible minority and 11% have an Indigenous identity.
What religion are people in North Bay?
56% are Christian and 42% have no religion; 2.1% follow another religion.
Is North Bay good for families?
Under 15: 14% (Canada’s towns: 16%). Couple families: 45% of households. One-parent families: 10%. Schools near North Bay are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in North Bay?
The median household in North Bay took in $72,000 in 2020, against $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of North Bay?
North Bay had about 62,062 residents in July 2025, Statistics Canada estimates; the 2021 Census counted 52,662, 2% more than 2016.
What is the average age in North Bay?
A median age of 44, older than 62% of Canadian towns. Children under 15 make up 14%, and people 65 and over 22%.
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).