Photo: Karl Brooks Heisey died December 7, 1937 · CC BY-SA 4.0Red Lake sits above 98% of Canadian towns for Indigenous residents (24%)
With a median age of 38.4, Red Lake is younger than nearly three quarters of Canadian towns. Here, nearly a fifth of residents are under 15. About 4,285 people lived here in July 2025, Statistics Canada estimates. The figure for households in single-detached houses is 82% in Red Lake and 64% across Canada’s towns.
What stands out about the people of Red Lake
First Nations, Métis and Inuit residents
An Indigenous identity is reported by 24% of residents, more than in 98% of Canadian towns, and 12% are Registered or Treaty Indians. Identity & religion ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Red Lake changed by ±0% from 2016 to 2021, slower than 79% of Canadian towns
Figures are from the 2021 Census unless dated otherwise. Two census counts, five years apart, and Statistics Canada’s newest estimate.
Change, 2016 to 2021
By July 2025, the estimate had risen a further 5%. Across Canada’s towns the median change is +4%; across Ontario’s towns, +6%.
16% of residents are 65 or over, below 69% of Canadian towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
In Red Lake, 9.5% of residents are aged 15 to 24, beside 11% across Canada’s towns. By way of comparison, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Red Lake, 38.4. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split.
A higher share of one-person households than 60% of Canadian towns, at 30%
Who shares a home: household types and sizes.
Against Ontario’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
At 2.4 people, the average household compares with 2.4 across Canada’s towns. To put it in context, 27% of households are one person living alone across Canada’s towns. For Red Lake, the census puts one-parent families at 7.9%.
More common-law partners than 80% of Canadian towns: 17%
Marital status of residents 15 and over, with common-law couples counted apart.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Compared with 46% across Canada’s towns, 44% of residents 15 and over are married here. The benchmark for common-law partners across Canada’s towns: 11%.
25% of households rent their home, fewer than in 52% of Canadian towns
Houses and apartments, owners and renters, older and newer homes. 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
Just over a quarter of homes were built before 1961 and 11% in 2001 or later. Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in nearly three quarters of Canadian towns.
A median household income of $111,000 a year
Incomes are 2020’s, the census’s reference year, and include pandemic benefits such as CERB. What households took in before tax, at the middle and across income groups.
Households by income · share of households
Red Lake’s median household took in $111,000 before tax, 29% more than the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Among Ontario’s towns, the typical figure is $91,600. Emergency and recovery benefits reached 17% of those with an income, beside a typical 28%.
5.2% of residents are immigrants
Immigrants by continent of birth and when they arrived, citizenship, and who moved in recently.
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, from 2011 to 2021, are 38% of immigrants (typical: 27%); non-permanent residents add 1.4% of residents. Residents without Canadian citizenship account for 2.9%. Immigrants are rarer here than in just over four fifths of Canadian towns.
49% of residents said they have no religion, a share 85% of Canadian towns don’t reach
Residents’ own answers on visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Here 4.4% of residents belong to a visible minority, where the figure across Canada’s towns is 15%. Set beside that, just over a third of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns.
Red Lake ranks above 69% of Canadian towns on residents whose mother tongue is French: 3.3%
English, French and the other languages people grew up with or speak at home.
Can hold a conversation in · share of all residents
Mother tongue · share of all residents
At home: English 97%, French 1.1%. Set beside that, 1.5% of residents have French as their mother tongue across Canada’s towns. Bilingual residents are about as common here as across Canada’s towns: 7.7%.
In Red Lake, 22% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, fewer than in 61% of Canadian towns
The highest diploma or degree of adults of working age (25 to 64).
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
With no certificate, diploma or degree: 11%, beside a typical 9.5%. The wider picture: 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
Employment: 63% of residents 15 and over had a job
Counted in May 2021, during COVID-19, these rates catch the job market before it had recovered. The census’s work rates at a glance. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
The employment rate of 63% is above the typical 58% across Canada’s towns.
Among 41 towns of 4,209 to 4,361 people, the 3rd youngest
Similar-sized towns by median age; each dot is a town.
The group spans Fraipont, youngest at 33.6, to Claresholm, oldest at 56.8. The closest ages to Red Lake’s belong to Fraipont (33.6), Pollard Meadows (35.9), St. George (38.5) and Central Park (38.8).
Red Lake is younger than 4 of its 5 nearest neighbours
Places nearby, shaded by median age, each linked to its page. Red Lake has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 133–154 km out.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Lake | 4,285 | — | 38.4 | 16% | 5.2% |
| Kenora, Unorganized | 7,877 | 133.3 km | 54.8 | 28% | 5.6% |
| Kenora | 15,892 | 145.7 km | 44.4 | 21% | 4.4% |
| Machin | 1,060 | 145.9 km | 53.6 | 27% | 9.7% |
| Lac Seul 28 | 1,076 | 147.0 km | 25.6 | 6.8% | 0% |
| Dryden | 7,808 | 154.4 km | 48 | 24% | 6.1% |
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. Provincial and national yardsticks: Ontario’s towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents, and all Canadian towns of that size. No whole city and no First Nations reserve is in either median.
- What these tables don’t give. For origins the charts stop at visible minority and Indigenous identity, and the Census Profile has nothing on unpaid care, cars or the internet, or on change by age since 2016.
Questions about Red Lake’s residents
How diverse is Red Lake?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 17% are immigrants; here, 5.2%. A visible minority makes up 4.4% and Indigenous residents 24%.
What religion are people in Red Lake?
Most often Christian (50%) or no religion (49%); other religions make up 1.1%.
Is Red Lake good for families?
Children under 15 are 19% of residents, against 16% across Canada’s towns. Couple families make up 55% of households and one-parent families 7.9%. Schools near Red Lake are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Red Lake?
Median total household income in Red Lake was $111,000 in 2020, against a median of $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Red Lake?
The latest figure is an estimate: 4,285 residents in July 2025. At the 2021 Census, Red Lake counted 4,094, about the same as 2016.
What is the average age in Red Lake?
Half the residents are older than 38.4 and half younger, younger than 74% of Canadian towns; 19% are children under 15 and 16% are 65 or over.
Is Red Lake bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 7.7% are. Another 0.1% speak only French and 92% only English, and French is the first language of 3.3%.
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).