Photo: Onasill ~ Bill - Be Safe & Happy · Public domainHalf of Port Hope is over 50.8, older than 87% of Canadian towns
Most recent wave: 3.8% of immigrants arrived in 2011–2021 (Canada’s towns: 27%). For Port Hope, the census puts residents with no religion at 46%. Lower than in just over four fifths of Canadian towns: 13% of residents are under 15. Some 18,446 people live in the town, by the estimate for July 2025.
What stands out about the people of Port Hope
Older than most towns
Port Hope’s median age is 50.8; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 28% are 65 or over, against 19% across Canada’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
From 2016 to 2021, 55% of Canadian towns grew faster than Port Hope: +3%
All figures are the 2021 Census’s unless another date is shown. How the population moved between the last two censuses, and since.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Across Canada’s towns the median change is +4%; across Ontario’s towns, +6%. Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025 is 7% higher again.
Residents aged 65 and over: 28%, a higher share than 88% of Canadian towns
Age bands of five years, the town’s bars against the typical town’s ticks.
No age band is larger than 55–59: 8.6% of residents. The usual figure: 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns. Port Hope has fewer residents aged 15 to 24 than just over four fifths of Canadian towns, at 8.9%.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Port Hope, 50.8. 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. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Port Hope households average 2.3 people, smaller than in 64% of Canadian towns
Private households by type and size.
Against Ontario’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
Across Port Hope, nearly one in ten households are one-parent families. One-person households make up 27%, close to the figure across Canada’s towns.
Common-law partners: 13%, a higher share than 65% of Canadian towns
Residents 15 and over by marital status; the census counts common-law couples separately.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
23% of adults are single and have never married; the typical town has 27%. For common-law partners, the comparison across Canada’s towns is 11%. Census figures put married residents 15 and over at 48% in Port Hope.
Above 74% of Canadian towns: 6.1% of households live in a building of five or more storeys
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
Where 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns, Port Hope has 72%. Renter households account for 22%.
$88,000 a year is the median household income here
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
Half of Port Hope’s households had a total income above $88,000 and half below, close to the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). The provincial yardstick is $91,600, the median across Ontario’s towns. 24% of income recipients received COVID-19 emergency or recovery benefits (typical: 28%).
10% of residents are immigrants
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
The share of immigrants trails 64% of Canadian towns: 10%. In Port Hope, 1.5% of residents are not Canadian citizens. 11% lived at another address a year earlier, more than the typical 11% across Canada’s towns.
52% said they are Christian and 46% that they have no religion
Visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion, as residents answered the census.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
By its share of visible minority residents (4.5%), Port Hope is below 70% of Canadian towns. Locally, 2.6% of residents have an Indigenous identity.
94% have English as their mother tongue; 7% also speak French
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
At home: English 98%, French 0.3%. Residents whose mother tongue is French are rarer here than in 67% of Canadian towns.
Below 65% of Canadian towns: 21% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher
From no certificate to a master’s: residents 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Without any certificate: 8% of 25- to 64-year-olds (typical: 9.5%).
An employment rate of 50%
These rates date from May 2021, during the pandemic, and run lower than a normal year’s. The census’s labour rates, in brief. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
With 28% of residents 65 or over, the employment rate of 50% sits under the typical 58% across Canada’s towns.
4th highest median age among 41 towns of 17,836 to 19,050
Median age of the Canadian towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
The group spans Schmidtville, youngest at 29, to Oak Bay, oldest at 54.4. In age, Port Hope keeps company with Central Saanich (49.6), Greater Napanee (50.4), Bracebridge (51.2) and Edmundston (54).
Older than Port Hope: 1 of the 2 towns nearby
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each links to its own page.
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What these tables don’t give. Missing from the census as published: unpaid care, cars and internet access, and the shift in each age band since 2016. Ethnic origins past visible minority and Indigenous identity aren’t charted here.
- 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.
- 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.
Questions about Port Hope’s residents
What religion are people in Port Hope?
Christian: 52%. No religion: 46%. Another religion: 1.9%.
Is Port Hope good for families?
Across Canada’s towns, a typical 16% of residents are under 15; here, 13%. 56% of households are couple families and 8.7% one-parent families. Schools near Port Hope are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Port Hope?
$88,000 before tax, in 2020: the middle household’s income in Port Hope (Canada’s towns: $86,000).
What is the population of Port Hope?
Statistics Canada estimates 18,446 residents for July 2025; the 2021 Census counted 17,294 in Port Hope, 3% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Port Hope?
50.8 is the median age, older than 87% of Canadian towns. Under 15: 13%. 65 and over: 28%.
Is Port Hope bilingual?
7% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 0% speak French only and 93% English only. French is the mother tongue of 1.1%.
How diverse is Port Hope?
Immigrants make up 10% of residents, against 17% across Canada’s towns. 4.5% are members of a visible minority, and 2.6% are First Nations, Métis or Inuit.
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).