Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Shuniah is older than 95% of Canadian towns: a median age of 55.2
In Shuniah, 97% of households live in a single-detached house, beside 64% across Canada’s towns. More Indigenous residents than in 85% of Canadian towns: 8.8%. Statistics Canada puts the town’s population at 3,458 for July 2025. Locally, 12% of residents are under 15.
What stands out about the people of Shuniah
Older than most towns
Shuniah’s median age is 55.2; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 30% are 65 or over, against 19% across Canada’s towns. Ages ↓
Growing faster than most
Shuniah went from 2,798 people in 2016 to 3,247 in 2021, +16%: faster growth than in 93% of Canadian towns. Population change ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
A growing town: +16% since 2016, faster than 93% of Canadian towns
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
Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025 is 6% higher again.
A larger share of residents aged 65 and over than 92% of Canadian towns: 30%
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
The share of residents aged 15 to 24 trails 93% of Canadian towns: 7.6%. As a yardstick, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Shuniah, 55.2. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split.
Fewer one-person households than 63% of Canadian towns: 24%
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.
The typical household size is 2.3 people, against 2.4 across Canada’s towns. By way of comparison, 27% of households are one person living alone across Canada’s towns. Locally, 4.6% of households are one-parent families.
A larger share of married residents 15 and over than 95% of Canadian towns: 60%
Marital status of residents 15 and over, with common-law couples counted apart.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Never married and not common-law: 17% of adults (typical: 27%). The usual figure: 46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns. Census figures put common-law partners at 11% in Shuniah.
Below 99% of Canadian towns: 4.9% of households rent their home
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
Newer homes outnumber old: 23% date from 2001 or later, 21% from before 1961. The wider picture: a quarter of households rent their home across Canada’s towns. Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in 74% of Canadian towns.
Households here have a median income of $109,000 a year
The income year is 2020: a year of pandemic benefits such as CERB, which the figures count. Income per household, before tax, with the groups it falls into.
Households by income · share of households
Half of Shuniah’s households had a total income above $109,000, 27% more than the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Across Ontario’s towns, half of households had more than $91,600 before tax. Emergency and recovery benefits reached 19% of those with an income, beside a typical 28%.
Only 7.8% of residents lived at another address a year earlier in Shuniah
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
By its share of immigrants (6.5%), Shuniah is below 75% of Canadian towns. On top of that, residents without Canadian citizenship are rarer here than in 91% of Canadian towns. Across Canada’s towns, residents who moved in within the year come to 11%. The largest groups of immigrants were born in Europe (69%) and in the Americas (17%).
Shuniah ranks above 61% of Canadian towns on residents with no religion: 38%
Identity and faith, in the census’s categories.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
The share of visible minority residents trails 98% of Canadian towns: 0.6%. Across Canada’s towns, the share of residents with no religion is 35%.
In Shuniah, 2.8% of residents have French as their mother tongue, more than in 67% of Canadian towns
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 98%, French 1.2%. The comparison figure for residents whose mother tongue is French is 1.5% across Canada’s towns. One in ten residents speak English and French (Canada’s towns: 7.5%).
27% 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
Some 7.4% have no certificate, diploma or degree, against a typical 9.5%.
51% of adults were employed in May 2021
These rates date from May 2021, during the pandemic, and run lower than a normal year’s. The census’s work rates at a glance. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
51% of residents 15 and over have a job, against a typical 58% across Canada’s towns; 30% are 65 or more.
Ranked by age, 4th oldest of 41 towns this size
Similar-sized towns by median age; each dot is a town.
Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier is the youngest of them at 32.8; Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap, at 61.2, the oldest. The towns whose median age is nearest to Shuniah’s: Merrickville (54.4), Richmond County, Subdivision C (54.8), Lewisporte (55.6) and Cumberland County, Subdivision A (57.2).
No nearby town is as old as Shuniah
Neighbouring places and their median ages; each name opens its page. Distances here run 21–30 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Shuniah.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shuniah | 3,458 | — | 55.2 | 30% | 6.5% |
| Thunder Bay | 117,671 | 21.0 km | 44 | 22% | 8.6% |
| Fort William 52 | 1,038 | 27.5 km | 37.6 | 16% | 0% |
| Thunder Bay, Unorganized | 6,831 | 29.8 km | 51.6 | 25% | 6.9% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The census’s own words. The census takes “visible minority” from the Employment Equity Act: anyone other than Indigenous peoples who is non-white in colour or race. Indigenous identity, immigrant status and religion are what residents reported, compared here with other towns and never used as a label.
- Against Ontario’s towns and Canada’s towns. A figure here is set beside two middles, the median across Ontario’s places of 2,500 people or more and the median across all Canadian towns that size; reserves and entire cities are excluded from both.
- 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 Shuniah’s residents
Is Shuniah bilingual?
9.7% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 0% speak French only and 90% English only. French is the mother tongue of 2.8%.
How diverse is Shuniah?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 17% are immigrants; here, 6.5%. A visible minority makes up 0.6% and Indigenous residents 8.8%.
What religion are people in Shuniah?
Most often Christian (60%) or no religion (38%); other religions make up 1.2%.
Is Shuniah good for families?
Children under 15 are 12% of residents, against 16% across Canada’s towns. Couple families make up 68% of households and one-parent families 4.6%. Schools near Shuniah are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Shuniah?
Median total household income in Shuniah was $109,000 in 2020, against a median of $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Shuniah?
The latest figure is an estimate: 3,458 residents in July 2025. At the 2021 Census, Shuniah counted 3,247, 16% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Shuniah?
Half the residents are older than 55.2 and half younger, older than 95% of Canadian towns; 12% are children under 15 and 30% are 65 or over.
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).