Photo: Tier2Cell245 · CC BY 4.0Pembroke ranks above 91% of Canadian towns on Indigenous residents: 13%
In Pembroke, 27% of residents are 65 or over, beside 19% across Canada’s towns. Some 15,479 people live locally, by the estimate for July 2025. Renter households account for 42%. The median age here is 46.4, higher than in 74% of Canadian towns.
What stands out about the people of Pembroke
First Nations, Métis and Inuit residents
An Indigenous identity is reported by 13% of residents, more than in 91% of Canadian towns, and 3.4% are Registered or Treaty Indians. Identity & religion ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Slower than most: +4% since 2016, behind 53% of Canadian towns
Every figure here comes from the 2021 Census unless it carries another date. The census counts of 2016 and 2021, the estimate after them, and the change set beside other towns.
Change, 2016 to 2021
The July 2025 estimate adds another 8%.
Pembroke ranks below 71% of Canadian towns on children under 15: 14%
Age bands of five years, the town’s bars against the typical town’s ticks.
The largest age band is 60–64: 7.7% of residents. Measured more widely, 16% of residents are under 15 across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Pembroke, 46.4. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 88 men for every 100 women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
One-person households make up 38% in Pembroke, more than in 85% of Canadian towns
Household types, then household sizes.
Against Ontario’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
One-parent families make up 11% of households and couple families 41%, against 8.2% and 53% across Canada’s towns. The benchmark for one-person households across Canada’s towns: 27%. A household here holds 2.1 people on average.
Pembroke sits below 74% of Canadian towns for married residents 15 and over (37%)
Residents 15 and over by marital status; the census counts common-law couples separately.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
The share of common-law partners is 12%, against 11% across Canada’s towns. Elsewhere, 46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns.
Households in single-detached houses make up 58% in Pembroke, less than in 58% of Canadian towns
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
Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in 74% of Canadian towns. 48% of homes were built before 1961 and 9.3% in 2001 or later. For comparison, 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns.
The midpoint household income is $63,200 a year
Census incomes cover 2020, when emergency benefits like CERB lifted many households’ totals. Income per household, before tax, with the groups it falls into.
Households by income · share of households
The middle household in Pembroke had $63,200 before tax, 27% below the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Across Ontario’s towns the median is $91,600. The pandemic’s benefits: 24% of income recipients, against 28% in the typical town.
In Pembroke, 15% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, more than in 77% 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
With residents without Canadian citizenship at 1.3%, Pembroke is behind 85% of Canadian towns on that count. The benchmark for residents who moved in within the year across Canada’s towns: 11%. The census found that 4.5% of residents are immigrants here.
Residents with no religion make up 31% in Pembroke, less than in 62% of Canadian towns
Visible minority and Indigenous identity, then religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Against a figure of 15% across Canada’s towns, the share of visible minority residents in Pembroke comes in at 3.6%. To put it in context, 35% of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns.
A higher share of residents whose mother tongue is French than 73% of Canadian towns, at 6%
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
14% of residents speak English and French (Canada’s towns: 7.5%). As a yardstick, 1.5% of residents have French as their mother tongue across Canada’s towns.
Only 15% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher in Pembroke
Highest certificate, diploma or degree of residents aged 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
46% of residents 15 and over were in work
The census counted work in May 2021, mid-pandemic, so read these rates as a pandemic snapshot. The census’s labour rates, in brief. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
At 46%, fewer residents are in work than the typical 58% across Canada’s towns, and 27% are 65 or over.
In its size band (15,181 to 15,792), the 10th oldest of 41 towns
Median age of the Canadian towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
The span goes from 31.2 (Laurel) up to 62 (Parksville). The towns whose median age is nearest to Pembroke’s: Vieux-Longueuil (46.3), Edgemont (46.3), East Riverside (46.5) and Edenbridge-Humber Valley (47.6).
Median age: 1 of the 3 towns around Pembroke are older
The closest towns, coloured by how old their residents are.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pembroke | 15,479 | — | 46.4 | 27% | 4.5% |
| Laurentian Valley | 9,714 | 4.1 km | 45.6 | 21% | 3.8% |
| L'Isle-aux-Allumettes | 1,413 | 9.9 km | 50 | 26% | 3.3% |
| Petawawa | 19,606 | 14.3 km | 32 | 9.4% | 6.2% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Ontario’s towns and Canada’s towns. For each measure we take the median of Ontario’s towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, then the median of all Canadian towns. Neither counts whole cities or reserves, and every percentile is a Canadian one.
- 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.
- The census’s own words. These are self-reported answers: Indigenous identity, immigrant status, religion. The census’s “visible minority” comes from the Employment Equity Act (non-white in colour or race, Indigenous peoples aside), and the page sets each beside other towns without labelling any.
Questions about Pembroke’s residents
What is the average age in Pembroke?
Half the residents are older than 46.4 and half younger, older than 74% of Canadian towns; 14% are children under 15 and 27% are 65 or over.
Is Pembroke bilingual?
Both official languages are spoken by 14% of residents, against a typical 7.5% across Canada’s towns. 86% speak only English and 0.3% only French; 6% grew up with French.
How diverse is Pembroke?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 17% are immigrants; here, 4.5%. A visible minority makes up 3.6% and Indigenous residents 13%.
What religion are people in Pembroke?
Most often Christian (67%) or no religion (31%); other religions make up 2.2%.
Is Pembroke good for families?
Children under 15 are 14% of residents, against 16% across Canada’s towns. Couple families make up 41% of households and one-parent families 11%. Schools near Pembroke are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Pembroke?
Median total household income in Pembroke was $63,200 in 2020, against a median of $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Pembroke?
The latest figure is an estimate: 15,479 residents in July 2025. At the 2021 Census, Pembroke counted 14,364, 4% more than 2016.
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).