Photo: Joe Mabel (on Flickr as Joe Mabel from Seattle, US) · CC BY-SA 3.0A larger share of visible minority residents than 86% of Canadian towns: 52%
One-person households: 17% here and 27% across Canada’s towns. Pickering had about 118,378 residents in July 2025, by Statistics Canada’s estimate, and 33,425 households at the 2021 Census. Here, 36% of residents are immigrants. 15% of households rent their home, a lower share than in 76% of Canadian towns.
Faster growth than 73% of Canadian towns: Pickering changed by +8% since 2016
Unless a figure says otherwise, it is from the 2021 Census. Residents at the 2016 and 2021 censuses and the latest estimate, with the 2016–2021 change beside other towns.
Change, 2016 to 2021
The July 2025 estimate adds another 19%. For comparison, the median is +4% across Canada’s towns and +6% across Ontario’s towns.
Pickering is younger than 58% of Canadian towns: a median age of 40.8
Residents by five-year age band, each beside the typical town (the tick).
The figure for residents aged 15 to 24 is 12% in Pickering and 11% across Canada’s towns. Across Pickering, 17% of residents are 65 or over.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Pickering, 40.8. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women.
Bigger households than 90% of Canadian towns: 3 people each on average
Who shares a home: household types and sizes.
Against Ontario’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
Across Canada’s towns, 8.2% of households are one-parent families; in Pickering, 11%.
A smaller share of common-law partners than 84% of Canadian towns: 6.4%
Married, common-law, single: residents 15 and over.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Never married and not common-law: 29% of adults (typical: 27%). For comparison, 11% of residents 15 and over live common-law across Canada’s towns.
A higher share of households in buildings of five or more storeys than 78% of Canadian towns, at 9.2%
Dwelling types, tenure and age of the housing. 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
Newer homes outnumber old: 23% date from 2001 or later, 6.2% from before 1961. Single-detached houses hold three in five households, less than in 55% of Canadian towns, and buildings of five or more storeys 9.2%.
Half of households earn more than $118,000 a year
The census asked about income in 2020: a pandemic year, with CERB and other emergency benefits counted in. Total household income: the median household, and the spread from low to high.
Households by income · share of households
At $118,000, the middle household in Pickering out-earned the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000) by 37%. The middle household across Ontario’s towns has $91,600 before tax. In 2020, 32% of income recipients drew a COVID-19 emergency or recovery benefit; the typical town had 28%.
Only 8.6% of residents lived at another address a year earlier in Pickering
Where immigrants were born and when they came, and how recently residents moved in.
Immigrants, by continent of birth · share of all residents; the bar runs to 45%
When immigrants arrived · share of immigrants
Citizenship and moving · share of residents
Most recent wave: 16% of immigrants arrived in 2011–2021 (Canada’s towns: 27%). The share of residents who moved in within the year across Canada’s towns is 11%. The largest groups of immigrants were born in Asia (52%) and in the Americas (25%).
Residents with no religion: 23%, a lower share than 81% of Canadian towns
Residents’ own answers on visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Among other religions: Muslim (13%) and Hindu (8.3%). Pickering has fewer Indigenous residents than nearly four fifths of Canadian towns, at 1.1%. Measured more widely, 35% of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns.
69% have English as their mother tongue; 7.2% also speak French
The official languages residents can speak, and the ones they learned first.
Can hold a conversation in · share of all residents
Mother tongue · share of all residents
At home, 12% mostly speak another language; 1.3% speak neither English nor French. Pickering has fewer residents whose mother tongue is French than 67% of Canadian towns, at 1.1%.
Pickering sits above 69% of Canadian towns for degree holders aged 25 to 64 (38%)
The highest diploma or degree of adults of working age (25 to 64).
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
5.6% have no certificate, diploma or degree (typical: 9.5%). The wider picture: 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
In work on census day: 57% of adults
These rates date from May 2021, during the pandemic, and run lower than a normal year’s. Work, briefly: employment, unemployment, participation and working from home. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
Employment here, 57%, matches the middle of Canada’s towns (58%) within a couple of points.
The 17th youngest of 41 towns of 85,560 to 162,413 people
The Canadian towns closest in population, from youngest to oldest.
The group spans Airdrie, youngest at 35.6, to Cape Breton, oldest at 50.4. By median age, Pickering sits among Moncton (40.8), Bolton (40.8), Maple Ridge (41.2) and Kingston (41.2).
Among its 6 nearest neighbours, 3 are older than Pickering
Places nearby, shaded by median age, each linked to its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pickering | 118,378 | — | 40.8 | 17% | 36% |
| West Rouge | 20,915 | 5.9 km | 44.4 | 22% | 46% |
| Ajax | 141,111 | 6.6 km | 38.4 | 13% | 42% |
| Centennial Scarborough | 13,453 | 7.3 km | 44.8 | 21% | 37% |
| Highland Creek | 12,678 | 7.9 km | 44.5 | 23% | 58% |
| Morningside Heights | 24,972 | 8.5 km | 38.6 | 15% | 61% |
| Malvern East | 26,113 | 9.7 km | 39.5 | 17% | 61% |
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. 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 Pickering’s residents
What is the median income in Pickering?
The median household in Pickering took in $118,000 in 2020, against $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Pickering?
Pickering had about 118,378 residents in July 2025, Statistics Canada estimates; the 2021 Census counted 99,186, 8% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Pickering?
A median age of 40.8, younger than 58% of Canadian towns. Children under 15 make up 17%, and people 65 and over 17%.
Is Pickering bilingual?
English and French: 7.2% speak both (Canada’s towns: 7.5%). English only: 91%. French only: 0.1%. French mother tongue: 1.1%.
How diverse is Pickering?
36% of residents are immigrants (Canada’s towns: 17%); 52% belong to a visible minority and 1.1% have an Indigenous identity.
What religion are people in Pickering?
54% are Christian and 23% have no religion; 23% follow another religion.
Is Pickering good for families?
Under 15: 17% (Canada’s towns: 16%). Couple families: 57% of households. One-parent families: 11%. Schools near Pickering are on its Schools page.
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).