Photo: Robert Taylor from Stirling, ON, Canada · CC BY 2.087% of households live in a single-detached house, more than in 84% of Canadian towns
43% of residents said they have no religion, against 35% across Canada’s towns. Census figures put residents aged 65 and over at 23% in Stirling. With a median age of 46.4, Stirling is older than nearly three quarters of Canadian towns. The 2021 Census found 1,970 households locally; by July 2025 the population was about 5,489. The census figures here are for the whole of Stirling-Rawdon, the municipality that includes Stirling.
Since 2016, Stirling has changed by +3%, slower than 59% of Canadian towns
The figures are the 2021 Census’s, except where another date is given. Two census counts, five years apart, and Statistics Canada’s newest estimate.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025 is 9% higher again. Across Canada’s towns the median change is +4%; across Ontario’s towns, +6%.
Stirling sits below 73% of Canadian towns for residents aged 15 to 24 (9.5%)
Age bands of five years, the town’s bars against the typical town’s ticks.
The largest age band is 60–64: 9.4% of residents, 1.3 times the share across Canada’s towns. Elsewhere, 11% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Stirling, 46.4. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split.
Only 24% of households are one person living alone in Stirling
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.
In Stirling the average household is 2.5 people, beside 2.4 across Canada’s towns. The usual figure: 27% of households are one person living alone across Canada’s towns. Across Stirling, 7.4% of households are one-parent families.
More married residents 15 and over than 68% of Canadian towns: 52%
Residents 15 and over by marital status; the census counts common-law couples separately.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Here 12% of residents 15 and over live common-law, where the figure across Canada’s towns is 11%. 21% of adults are single and have never married; the typical town has 27%.
18% of households rent their home, below 67% 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
Just over 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. Typically, 25% of households rent their home across Canada’s towns.
Median household income: $81,000 a year
Census incomes are for 2020, the year before the census, when CERB and other pandemic benefits topped up many households. What households took in before tax, at the middle and across income groups.
Households by income · share of households
The median across Canada’s towns is $86,000; Stirling’s, at $81,000, is 6% lower. The provincial yardstick is $91,600, the median across Ontario’s towns. In 2020, 25% of income recipients drew a COVID-19 emergency or recovery benefit; the typical town had 28%.
Stirling sits below 59% of Canadian towns for residents who moved in within the year (10%)
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
Most immigrants were born in Europe (63%) or in the Americas (17%). The share of residents who moved in within the year across Canada’s towns is 11%. 7.2% of residents are immigrants, a lower share than in 73% of Canadian towns. Recent arrivals are just over a fifth of immigrants (2011 to 2021), beside 27% across Canada’s towns.
Above 66% of Canadian towns: 4.4% of residents have an Indigenous identity
Identity and faith, in the census’s categories.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Here 3.7% of residents belong to a visible minority, where the figure across Canada’s towns is 15%. Indigenous residents make up 2.8% across Canada’s towns.
English is the mother tongue of 93%, and 4.2% speak French as well
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 97%, French 0.4%. On bilingual residents, Stirling sits lower than 84% of Canadian towns: 4.2%. Little separates the share of residents whose mother tongue is French here, 0.9%, from the figure across Canada’s towns.
Fewer degree holders aged 25 to 64 than 84% of Canadian towns: 14%
Education of residents 25 to 64, by highest credential.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
With no certificate, diploma or degree: 15%, beside a typical 9.5%. Across the comparison, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
Employment: 55% 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 labour rates, in brief. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
The employment rate of 55% is below the typical 58% across Canada’s towns; 23% of residents are 65 or over.
10th highest median age among 41 towns of 5,386 to 5,598
Median age of the Canadian towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
The span goes from 32 (Countryside) up to 56.4 (Inverness County, Subdivision A). The towns whose median age is nearest to Stirling’s: New Glasgow (44.8), Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue (46), Electoral Area H, Central Kootenay (47.2) and Espanola (48.8).
Stirling is younger than 3 of its 5 nearest neighbours
Neighbouring places and their median ages; each name opens its page. The nearest places to Stirling with figures are 19–22 km away.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stirling | 5,489 | — | 46.4 | 23% | 7.2% |
| Campbellford | 15,103 | 19.1 km | 55.2 | 31% | 9.2% |
| Quinte West | 50,385 | 19.6 km | 45.6 | 22% | 7.6% |
| Marmora | 4,761 | 20.5 km | 56 | 30% | 8.2% |
| Centre Hastings | 5,170 | 21.3 km | 49.2 | 26% | 6.2% |
| Belleville | 62,914 | 22.1 km | 45.2 | 24% | 9.3% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What these tables don’t give. The Census Profile has no unpaid care, cars or internet access, and no change by age since 2016; ethnic origins beyond visible minority and Indigenous identity aren’t charted here.
- 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. 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.
Questions about Stirling’s residents
What is the median income in Stirling?
Median total household income in Stirling was $81,000 in 2020, against a median of $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Stirling?
The latest figure is an estimate: 5,489 residents in July 2025. At the 2021 Census, Stirling counted 5,015, 3% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Stirling?
Half the residents are older than 46.4 and half younger, older than 74% of Canadian towns; 17% are children under 15 and 23% are 65 or over.
Is Stirling bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 4.2% are. Another 0.1% speak only French and 95% only English, and French is the first language of 0.9%.
How diverse is Stirling?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 17% are immigrants; here, 7.2%. A visible minority makes up 3.7% and Indigenous residents 4.4%.
What religion are people in Stirling?
Most often Christian (55%) or no religion (43%); other religions make up 2%.
Is Stirling good for families?
Children under 15 are 17% of residents, against 16% across Canada’s towns. Couple families make up 59% of households and one-parent families 7.4%. Schools near Stirling are on its Schools page.
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).