Photo: Gogerr · CC BY-SA 4.0More households in buildings of five or more storeys than 80% of Canadian towns: 11%
Residents aged 65 and over make up 23%, against 19% across Canada’s towns. On the census count, 32% of households are one person living alone. Half of St. Catharines’s residents are over 44.8, older than in nearly two thirds of Canadian towns. The town is home to some 153,865 people (July 2025 estimate), in 58,905 households at the 2021 Census.
+3% since 2016, a pace below 58% of Canadian towns
Unless a figure says otherwise, it is from the 2021 Census. How the population moved between the last two censuses, and since.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Medians for comparison: +4% across Canada’s towns; +6% across Ontario’s towns. Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025 is 12% higher again.
St. Catharines ranks below 71% of Canadian towns on children under 15: 14%
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
No age band is larger than 55–59: 7.4% of residents. Typically, 16% of residents are under 15 across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ St. Catharines, 44.8. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
St. Catharines sits above 79% of Canadian towns for one-parent families (10%)
Household types, then household sizes.
Against Ontario’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
In St. Catharines the average household is 2.3 people, beside 2.4 across Canada’s towns. One-parent families: 8.2% across Canada’s towns, for comparison.
St. Catharines sits below 61% of Canadian towns for married residents 15 and over (43%)
Marital status of residents 15 and over, with common-law couples counted apart.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Single and never married: 29% of adults, against a typical 27%. The census found that 10% of residents 15 and over live common-law in St. Catharines.
More renter households than 68% of Canadian towns: 36%
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
Older homes outnumber new: 33% predate 1961, 10% date from 2001 or later. Few places have so few households in single-detached houses: 56% here, fewer than in 61% of Canadian towns. Renter households: 25% across Canada’s towns, for comparison.
Median household income here: $72,500 a year
Census incomes cover 2020, when emergency benefits like CERB lifted many households’ totals. Total household income: the median household, and the spread from low to high.
Households by income · share of households
The median across Canada’s towns is $86,000; St. Catharines’s, at $72,500, is 16% lower. The median across Ontario’s towns is $91,600. Pandemic benefits reached 31% of residents with an income, against a typical 28%.
St. Catharines sits above 55% of Canadian towns for immigrants (20%)
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 are just over a fifth of immigrants (2011 to 2021), beside 27% across Canada’s towns. Residents who moved in within the year: just over a tenth of the total. Across the comparison, 17% of residents are immigrants across Canada’s towns.
17% of residents belong to a visible minority, more than in 51% of Canadian towns
Visible minority and Indigenous identity, then religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Among other religions: Muslim (3.4%). Across Canada’s towns, 15% of residents belong to a visible minority. Here 36% of residents said they have no religion, where the figure across Canada’s towns is 35%.
1.8% of residents have French as their mother tongue, more than in 57% 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, 7.6% mostly speak another language; 1% speak neither English nor French. Residents whose mother tongue is French: 1.5% across Canada’s towns, for comparison. Compared with 7.5% across Canada’s towns, 6.5% of residents speak English and French here.
A university degree: 27% of 25- to 64-year-olds
Highest certificate, diploma or degree of residents aged 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Without any certificate: 8.7% of 25- to 64-year-olds (typical: 9.5%).
An employment rate of 49%
May 2021 was still a pandemic month: the census’s work figures reflect that. The census’s work rates at a glance. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
At 49%, fewer residents are in work than the typical 58% across Canada’s towns, and 23% are 65 or over.
The 6th oldest of 41 towns of 102,378 to 222,031 people
Similar-sized towns by median age; each dot is a town.
The youngest of these towns is Milton, at 36; the oldest, Cape Breton, is at 50.4. Next to St. Catharines on this scale come Burlington (44.4), Niagara Falls (44.8), Nanaimo (45.2) and Saguenay (46).
Of the 5 towns nearest St. Catharines, 2 are older
The closest towns, coloured by how old their residents are.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Catharines | 153,865 | — | 44.8 | 23% | 20% |
| Thorold | 33,844 | 7.3 km | 37.2 | 16% | 17% |
| Niagara-on-the-Lake | 20,080 | 11.1 km | 57.2 | 36% | 26% |
| Niagara Falls | 113,983 | 14.2 km | 44.8 | 22% | 23% |
| Beamsville | 28,356 | 15.3 km | 44.4 | 22% | 15% |
| Pelham | 19,980 | 15.6 km | 50.4 | 27% | 13% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. Unpaid care, car ownership and internet access aren’t in the Census Profile, nor is the change by age since 2016. Ethnic origins other than visible minority and Indigenous identity are left out of the charts.
- The census’s own words. These are self-reported answers: Indigenous identity, immigrant status, religion. The census’s “visible minority” comes from the Employment Equity Act (non-white in colour or race, Indigenous peoples aside), and the page sets each beside other towns without labelling any.
Questions about St. Catharines’s residents
What is the average age in St. Catharines?
The median age is 44.8, older than 66% of Canadian towns. 14% are under 15 and 23% 65 or older.
Is St. Catharines bilingual?
6.5% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 0.1% speak French only and 92% English only. French is the mother tongue of 1.8%.
How diverse is St. Catharines?
Immigrants: 20% (Canada’s towns: 17%). Visible minority: 17%. Indigenous identity: 2.5%.
What religion are people in St. Catharines?
36% said they have no religion and 58% that they are Christian; 5.8% named another faith.
Is St. Catharines good for families?
14% of residents are under 15 (Canada’s towns: 16%); couple families are 47% of households and one-parent families 10%. Schools near St. Catharines are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in St. Catharines?
Half of St. Catharines’s households had more than $72,500 in 2020, before tax; across Canada’s towns the median was $86,000.
What is the population of St. Catharines?
About 153,865, by Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025. The 2021 Census found 136,803 people in St. Catharines, 3% more than 2016.
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).