Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0A median age of 58: Smooth Rock Falls is older than 98% of Canadian towns
Here 11% of residents are under 15, where the figure across Canada’s towns is 16%. Visible minority residents are rarer here than in 99% of Canadian towns. About 1,259 people lived in Smooth Rock Falls in July 2025, Statistics Canada estimates. For Smooth Rock Falls, the census puts households in single-detached houses at 86%.
What stands out about the people of Smooth Rock Falls
A bilingual town
66% of residents can hold a conversation in both English and French, more than in 97% of Canadian towns; 6% speak French only and 28% English only. English & French ↓
Older than most towns
Line Smooth Rock Falls’s residents up by age and the one in the middle is 58; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 35% are 65 or over, against 19% across Canada’s towns. Ages ↓
Fewer people than before
Between the 2016 and 2021 censuses, Smooth Rock Falls went from 1,330 to 1,200 residents (−10%), slower growth than in 99% of Canadian towns. Population change ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Bilingual residents: 66%, a higher share than 97% of Canadian towns
Unless a figure says otherwise, it is from the 2021 Census. 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
Set against 1.5% across Canada’s towns, 58% of residents have French as their mother tongue in Smooth Rock Falls. The usual figure: 7.5% of residents speak English and French across Canada’s towns.
A change of −10% since 2016 leaves Smooth Rock Falls behind 99% of Canadian towns
Two census counts, five years apart, and Statistics Canada’s newest estimate.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Across Canada’s towns, half of towns changed by more than +4%; across Ontario’s towns, by more than +6%. Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025 is 5% higher again.
In Smooth Rock Falls, 35% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 98% of Canadian towns
Age bands of five years, the town’s bars against the typical town’s ticks.
7.5% of residents are aged 15 to 24; across Canada’s towns the figure is 11%. The wider picture: 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split.
Households here average 2 people, below 90% of Canadian towns
Who shares a home: household types and sizes.
Against Ontario’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
35% of households are one person living alone; across Canada’s towns the figure is 27%. By contrast, at 6%, the share of one-parent families is lower than in 83% of Canadian towns.
A larger share of common-law partners than 69% of Canadian towns: 13%
Residents 15 and over by marital status; the census counts common-law couples separately.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Nearly a fifth of adults have never married and don’t live common-law (typical: 27%). Across Smooth Rock Falls, 48% of residents 15 and over are married. The benchmark for common-law partners across Canada’s towns: 11%.
21% of households rent their home, below 60% 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
Nearly one in ten homes need major repairs, against a typical 5.8%. Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in nearly three quarters of Canadian towns. By way of comparison, 25% of households rent their home across Canada’s towns.
The midpoint household income is $64,500 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
Smooth Rock Falls’s median household took in $64,500 before tax, 25% less than the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). For Ontario’s towns, the median household income is $91,600. 20% of income recipients received COVID-19 emergency or recovery benefits (typical: 28%).
12% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, a share 60% of Canadian towns don’t reach
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
Residents without Canadian citizenship are rarer here than in 99% of Canadian towns. In Smooth Rock Falls, 1.7% of residents are immigrants. As a reference point, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns.
Below 88% of Canadian towns: 19% of residents said they have no religion
Residents’ own answers on visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
2.8% of residents have an Indigenous identity across Canada’s towns, against 5.1% in Smooth Rock Falls. The share of residents with no religion across Canada’s towns is 35%.
In Smooth Rock Falls, 8.5% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, fewer than in 98% of Canadian towns
The highest diploma or degree of adults of working age (25 to 64).
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
No certificate at all: 14%, against 9.5%. As a yardstick, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
35% of residents 15 and over were in work
Counted in May 2021, during COVID-19, these rates catch the job market before it had recovered. The census’s labour rates, in brief. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
Fewer work here than in the typical town: 35%, against 58% across Canada’s towns. 35% of residents are 65 or over.
Every nearby town is younger than Smooth Rock Falls
Places nearby, shaded by median age, each linked to its page. No closer places have figures: these lie 25–49 km from Smooth Rock Falls.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smooth Rock Falls | 1,259 | — | 58 | 35% | 1.7% |
| Cochrane, Unorganized, North Part | 2,770 | 24.6 km | 48.8 | 19% | 3.4% |
| Moonbeam | 1,262 | 41.4 km | 55.6 | 26% | 0.9% |
| Cochrane | 5,948 | 49.3 km | 43.6 | 21% | 1.7% |
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. Two medians frame each figure: one for Ontario’s towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, one for all Canadian towns of that size, with whole cities and First Nations reserves left out. Percentiles rank the town within Canada.
- 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 Smooth Rock Falls’s residents
How diverse is Smooth Rock Falls?
1.7% of residents are immigrants (Canada’s towns: 17%); 0% belong to a visible minority and 5.1% have an Indigenous identity.
What religion are people in Smooth Rock Falls?
82% are Christian and 19% have no religion; 0% follow another religion.
Is Smooth Rock Falls good for families?
Under 15: 11% (Canada’s towns: 16%). Couple families: 53% of households. One-parent families: 6%. Schools near Smooth Rock Falls are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Smooth Rock Falls?
The median household in Smooth Rock Falls took in $64,500 in 2020, against $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Smooth Rock Falls?
Smooth Rock Falls had about 1,259 residents in July 2025, Statistics Canada estimates; the 2021 Census counted 1,200, 10% fewer than 2016.
What is the average age in Smooth Rock Falls?
A median age of 58. Children under 15 make up 11%, and people 65 and over 35%.
Is Smooth Rock Falls bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 66% are. Another 6% speak only French and 28% only English, and French is the first language of 58%.
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).