Photo: Harleyd613 · CC BY 4.0Ottawa sits above 86% of Canadian towns for households in buildings of five or more storeys (19%)
The share of immigrants is 26%, against 17% across Canada’s towns. Ottawa has more residents aged 15 to 24 than 80% of Canadian towns, at 13%. Its population is up 9% on 2016. Census figures put visible minority residents at 33% here.
Ottawa grew +9% from 2016 to 2021, ahead of 77% of Canadian towns
Unless a figure says otherwise, it is from the 2021 Census. How the population moved between the last two censuses, and since.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025 is 17% higher again. Medians for comparison: +4% across Canada’s towns; +6% across Ontario’s towns.
Younger than 63% of Canadian towns: half of Ottawa is under 40
Every five-year age group as a share of residents; ticks mark the typical town.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 17%, against 19% across Canada’s towns. No age band is larger than 25–29: 7.2% of residents.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women.
Larger households than 58% of Canadian towns: 2.5 people on average
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.
Compared with 27% across Canada’s towns, 29% of households are one person living alone here. On the census count, nearly one in ten households are one-parent families.
Ottawa ranks below 57% of Canadian towns on common-law partners: 9.8%
How adults live as couples, or don’t, with common-law unions shown on their own.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Single and never married: 31% of adults, against a typical 27%. The comparison figure for common-law partners is 11% across Canada’s towns. The share of married residents 15 and over stands at 46%.
In Ottawa, 42% of households live in a single-detached house, fewer than in 76% 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
The share of renter households is 36%, against 25% across Canada’s towns. For comparison, 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns. Newer homes outnumber old: 29% date from 2001 or later, 16% from before 1961.
The middle household earns $102,000 a year
Incomes here are for 2020, the year before the census, CERB and other pandemic benefits included. Total household income: the median household, and the spread from low to high.
Households by income · share of households
Half of Ottawa’s households had a total income above $102,000, 19% more than the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). The middle household across Ontario’s towns has $91,600 before tax. COVID-19 benefits were paid to 25% of residents with an income, where the typical town had 28%.
A larger share of residents without Canadian citizenship than 66% of Canadian towns: 9.5%
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
Recent arrivals are 30% of immigrants (2011 to 2021), beside 27% across Canada’s towns. 13% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, more than in 69% of Canadian towns. Across Canada’s towns, the share of residents without Canadian citizenship is 5.8%. Immigrants here were most often born in Asia (48%), then in Europe (21%).
Ottawa sits below 60% of Canadian towns for residents with no religion (32%)
Identity and faith, in the census’s categories.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Among other religions: Muslim (9.9%) and Hindu (2%). Across Canada’s towns, the share of residents with no religion is 35%. Ottawa sits close to the norm on Indigenous residents: 2.6%, about the same as across Canada’s towns.
36% of residents speak English and French, a share 84% of Canadian towns don’t reach
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
12% most often speak a language other than English or French at home, and 1.5% speak neither official language. Residents whose mother tongue is French are more common here than in just over three quarters of Canadian towns. For bilingual residents, the comparison across Canada’s towns is 7.5%.
Above 84% of Canadian towns: 50% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher
Education of residents 25 to 64, by highest credential.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
At the bottom of the ladder, 5.6% hold no certificate of any kind, against 9.5% in the typical town. Against that, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
In work on census day: 59% of adults
These rates date from May 2021, during the pandemic, and run lower than a normal year’s. Four labour figures from the census. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
Across Canada’s towns the typical rate is 58%, much like this 59%.
From a median age of 30 in Sandy Hill to 53 in Bells Corners East
The city’s 103 neighbourhoods, youngest first; each links its own page.
Bells Corners East is the oldest area, with 29% aged 65 or over; Sandy Hill the youngest (median age 30). Ledbury-Heron Gate-Ridgemont has the largest immigrant share, 47%. Lowertown East has the most renters: 85% of households.
Around Ottawa, 3 of 6 towns have a higher median age
Neighbouring places and their median ages; each name opens its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ottawa | 1,188,114 | — | 40 | 17% | 26% |
| Carleton Heights-Courtland Park | 8,621 | 0.6 km | 35 | 16% | 30% |
| Borden Farm - Fisher Glen | 11,100 | 1.2 km | 41.6 | 24% | 32% |
| Fisher Heights | 6,451 | 1.2 km | 34.2 | 15% | 34% |
| Riverside Park - Mooneys Bay | 4,692 | 2.0 km | 44.7 | 26% | 34% |
| Riverside Park South - Revelstoke | 3,030 | 2.3 km | 47.4 | 26% | 18% |
| Carlington | 16,354 | 2.6 km | 37.6 | 14% | 32% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. 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.
- The census’s own words. “Visible minority” is the census’s term from the Employment Equity Act: people, other than Indigenous peoples, who are non-white in colour or race. Indigenous identity, immigrant status and religion are as residents answered. The page compares them with other towns and never labels a town by them.
Questions about Ottawa’s residents
What is the population of Ottawa?
Statistics Canada estimates 1,188,114 residents for July 2025; the 2021 Census counted 1,017,449 in Ottawa, 9% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Ottawa?
40 is the median age. Under 15: 16%. 65 and over: 17%.
Is Ottawa bilingual?
36% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 1.4% speak French only and 61% English only. French is the mother tongue of 13%.
How diverse is Ottawa?
Immigrants make up 26% of residents, against 17% across Canada’s towns. 33% are members of a visible minority, and 2.6% are First Nations, Métis or Inuit.
What religion are people in Ottawa?
Christian: 53%. No religion: 32%. Another religion: 16%.
Is Ottawa good for families?
Across Canada’s towns, a typical 16% of residents are under 15; here, 16%. 52% of households are couple families and 8.8% one-parent families. Schools near Ottawa are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Ottawa?
$102,000 before tax, in 2020: the middle household’s income in Ottawa (Canada’s towns: $86,000).
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).