Photo: Joe Mabel (on Flickr as Joe Mabel from Seattle, US) · CC BY-SA 3.0Oshawa ranks above 91% of Canadian towns on one-parent families: 12%
With households in buildings of five or more storeys at 11%, Oshawa is ahead of 80% of Canadian towns on that count. The town had about 213,592 residents in July 2025, by Statistics Canada’s estimate, and 66,635 households at the 2021 Census. Visible minority residents: 29% of the total. Half of the town’s residents are under 39.2, younger than in 69% of Canadian towns.
Oshawa’s population changed by +10% since 2016, more than in 81% of Canadian towns
Figures are from the 2021 Census unless dated otherwise. Residents at the 2016 and 2021 censuses and the latest estimate, with the 2016–2021 change beside other towns.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Across Ontario’s towns the median is +6%, and across Canada’s towns +4%. The July 2025 estimate adds another 22%.
Children under 15: 18%, a higher share than 67% of Canadian towns
Every five-year age group as a share of residents; ticks mark the typical town.
30–34 is the most common age band: 7.5% of residents. Across the comparison, 16% of residents are under 15 across Canada’s towns. 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+
■ Oshawa, 39.2. 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.
2.6 people per household, more than in 67% of Canadian towns
Household types, then household sizes.
Against Ontario’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
The share of one-person households is 25%, against 27% across Canada’s towns.
Only 42% of residents 15 and over are married in Oshawa
How adults live as couples, or don’t, with common-law unions shown on their own.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Singles who have never married make up 31% of adults, beside a typical 27%. Elsewhere, 46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns. The share of common-law partners stands at 11%.
Renter households: 36%, a higher share than 69% 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 make up 56%, against 64% across Canada’s towns. Across the comparison, a quarter of households rent their home across Canada’s towns. Older homes outnumber new: 24% predate 1961, 21% date from 2001 or later.
Household income at the median: $86,000 a year
Incomes are 2020’s, the census’s reference year, and include pandemic benefits such as CERB. Household income before tax: the median, and households by income group.
Households by income · share of households
The middle household in Oshawa had $86,000 before tax, near the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). The middle household across Ontario’s towns has $91,600 before tax. The pandemic’s benefits: 32% of income recipients, against 28% in the typical town.
Oshawa: 22% of residents are immigrants, above 59% 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
Set against 11% across Canada’s towns, 13% of residents lived at another address a year earlier in Oshawa. Across Canada’s towns, immigrants come to 17%. Immigrants here were most often born in Asia (43%), then in Europe (27%).
Residents with no religion make up 37% in Oshawa, more than in 57% of Canadian towns
Visible minority and Indigenous identity, then religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Other faiths: Muslim (5.8%) and Hindu (3.7%). On average, just over a third of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns. Little separates the share of Indigenous residents here, 3.1%, from the figure across Canada’s towns.
1.7% of residents have French as their mother tongue, more than in 55% of Canadian towns
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, 8.1% mostly speak another language; 0.9% speak neither English nor French. For residents whose mother tongue is French, the comparison across Canada’s towns is 1.5%. Where 7.5% of residents speak English and French across Canada’s towns, Oshawa has 6.4%.
24% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, below 57% of Canadian towns
Highest certificate, diploma or degree of residents aged 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
10% have no certificate, diploma or degree (typical: 9.5%). As a yardstick, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
In work on census day: 52% of adults
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 52% is below the typical 58% across Canada’s towns; 17% of residents are 65 or over.
The 11th youngest of 41 towns of 105,520 to 243,107 people
Towns of about this size, placed by median age.
Median ages climb from 36 (Milton) to 50.4 (Cape Breton) across the group. Next to Oshawa on this scale come Cambridge (39.2), Bowmanville (39.2), Whitby (40) and Chilliwack (40.4).
1 of the 3 nearest towns are older than Oshawa
The closest towns, coloured by how old their residents are.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oshawa | 213,592 | — | 39.2 | 17% | 22% |
| Whitby | 162,413 | 7.1 km | 40 | 15% | 28% |
| Bowmanville | 114,180 | 12.7 km | 39.2 | 15% | 15% |
| Ajax | 141,111 | 15.0 km | 38.4 | 13% | 42% |
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. 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.
- 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 Oshawa’s residents
What religion are people in Oshawa?
37% said they have no religion and 51% that they are Christian; 11% named another faith.
Is Oshawa good for families?
18% of residents are under 15 (Canada’s towns: 16%); couple families are 47% of households and one-parent families 12%. Schools near Oshawa are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Oshawa?
Half of Oshawa’s households had more than $86,000 in 2020, before tax; across Canada’s towns the median was $86,000.
What is the population of Oshawa?
About 213,592, by Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025. The 2021 Census found 175,383 people in Oshawa, 10% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Oshawa?
The median age is 39.2, younger than 69% of Canadian towns. 18% are under 15 and 17% 65 or older.
Is Oshawa bilingual?
English and French: 6.4% speak both (Canada’s towns: 7.5%). English only: 93%. French only: 0.1%. French mother tongue: 1.7%.
How diverse is Oshawa?
Immigrants: 22% (Canada’s towns: 17%). Visible minority: 29%. Indigenous identity: 3.1%.
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).