Photo: ceedub13 · CC BY 2.0Carlington ranks above 91% of Canadian towns on households in buildings of five or more storeys: 29%
44% of residents belong to a visible minority; across Canada’s towns the figure is 15%. At the 2021 Census, 16,354 people lived in Carlington, in 7,165 households. In Carlington, 12% of households are one-parent families. The median age locally is 37.6, lower than in 79% of Canadian towns.
What stands out about the people of Carlington
A neighbourhood of renters
59% of households rent their home, more than in 90% of Canadian towns; 51% live in an apartment. Homes ↓
A neighbourhood of high-rises
29% of households live in a building of five or more storeys, more than in 91% of Canadian towns; 6.6% of homes are condominiums. Homes ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Carlington sits below 78% of Canadian towns for residents aged 65 and over (14%)
The figures are the 2021 Census’s, except where another date is given. Every five-year age group as a share of residents; ticks mark the typical town.
25–29 is the most common age band: 8.7% of residents, 1.5 times the share across Canada’s towns. As a reference point, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns. Locally, just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Carlington, 37.6. 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.
Above 86% of Canadian towns: 39% of households are one person living alone
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.
In Carlington the average household is 2.2 people, beside 2.4 across Canada’s towns. One-person households make up 27% across Canada’s towns. Shared houses stand out: 7.1% of households are unrelated adults living together, more than in 87% of Canadian towns.
Carlington sits below 79% of Canadian towns for married residents 15 and over (34%)
How adults live as couples, or don’t, with common-law unions shown on their own.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
39% of adults have never married and don’t live common-law (typical: 27%). As a reference point, 46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns. The share of common-law partners stands at 11%.
More renter households than 90% of Canadian towns: 59%
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
10% of homes need major repairs, against a typical 5.8%. Across Carlington, 24% of households live in a single-detached house. For renter households, the comparison across Canada’s towns is 25%.
The middle household earns $71,500 a year
Census incomes are for 2020, the year before the census, when CERB and other pandemic benefits topped up many households. Household income before tax: the median, and households by income group.
Households by income · share of households
Household incomes run lower in Carlington: half had less than $71,500, 17% under the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). The figure for Ontario’s towns: $91,600. 30% of income recipients received COVID-19 emergency or recovery benefits (typical: 28%).
32% of residents are immigrants, more than in 74% 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 40%
When immigrants arrived · share of immigrants
Citizenship and moving · share of residents
13% of residents lived at another address a year earlier (Canada’s towns: 11%). Measured more widely, 17% of residents are immigrants across Canada’s towns. The share of residents without Canadian citizenship stands at 14%.
Carlington sits above 53% of Canadian towns for residents with no religion (36%)
Identity and faith, in the census’s categories.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Other faiths: Muslim (11%) and Buddhist (2%). Residents with no religion make up 35% across Canada’s towns. Indigenous residents make up 3.7%, close to the figure across Canada’s towns.
29% of residents speak English and French, more than in 80% 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
16% most often speak a language other than English or French at home, and 2.4% speak neither official language. As a yardstick, 7.5% of residents speak English and French across Canada’s towns. Compared with other places, residents whose mother tongue is French are common here: 8.1%, more than in three quarters of Canadian towns.
In Carlington, 44% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, more than in 78% of Canadian towns
Education of residents 25 to 64, by highest credential.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
With no certificate, diploma or degree: 10%, beside a typical 9.5%. Against that, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
An employment rate of 57%
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.
57% of residents 15 and over have a job, in line with the typical 58% across Canada’s towns.
41 towns of 15,904 to 16,790 people: this is the 9th youngest
Towns of about this size, placed by median age.
Median ages climb from 32.8 (Evergreen) to 54.3 (Vieux-Moulin) across the group. By median age, Carlington sits among Parc-Lafontaine (36.1), Fairview (36.1), Saint-Sauveur (37.8) and Greektown (37.8).
A younger town than 4 of the 6 around it: Carlington
Neighbouring places and their median ages; each name opens its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carlington | 16,354 | — | 37.6 | 14% | 32% |
| Fisher Heights | 6,451 | 1.8 km | 34.2 | 15% | 34% |
| Westboro | 12,899 | 2.1 km | 44.5 | 23% | 20% |
| Braemar Park-Belair Heights-Copeland Park | 9,248 | 2.2 km | 39.9 | 21% | 21% |
| Laurentian | 11,133 | 2.2 km | 45.4 | 22% | 19% |
| Carleton Heights-Courtland Park | 8,621 | 2.5 km | 35 | 16% | 30% |
| Civic Hospital | 6,091 | 2.6 km | 40.9 | 17% | 16% |
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. The middle of Ontario’s towns of 2,500 or more comes first, the middle of all Canadian towns second; cities as a whole and First Nations reserves stay out, and percentiles are within Canada.
- 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 Carlington’s residents
Is Carlington good for families?
Under 15: 16% (Canada’s towns: 16%). Couple families: 38% of households. One-parent families: 12%. Schools near Carlington are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Carlington?
The median household in Carlington took in $71,500 in 2020, against $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Carlington?
16,354, at the 2021 Census: Statistics Canada makes no later estimate for Carlington alone.
What is the average age in Carlington?
A median age of 37.6, younger than 79% of Canadian towns. Children under 15 make up 16%, and people 65 and over 14%.
Is Carlington bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 29% are. Another 1.9% speak only French and 67% only English, and French is the first language of 8.1%.
How diverse is Carlington?
32% of residents are immigrants (Canada’s towns: 17%); 44% belong to a visible minority and 3.7% have an Indigenous identity.
What religion are people in Carlington?
46% are Christian and 36% have no religion; 18% follow another religion.
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).