Photo: Kenn Chaplin from Toronto, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 57.2: Tay Valley is older than 97% of Canadian towns
Renter households: 7.4%, below 95% of Canadian towns. About 6,171 people lived in Tay Valley in July 2025, Statistics Canada estimates. The census found that 5.7% of residents lived at another address a year earlier here. Children under 15 are rarer here than in 90% of Canadian towns.
What stands out about the people of Tay Valley
Older than most towns
Half of Tay Valley’s residents are under 57.2 and half over; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 32% are 65 or over, against 19% across Canada’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
From 2016 to 2021, Tay Valley outgrew 53% of Canadian towns: +5%
Unless a figure says otherwise, it is from the 2021 Census. Residents at the 2016 and 2021 censuses and the latest estimate, with the 2016–2021 change beside other towns.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Across Canada’s towns the median change is +4%; across Ontario’s towns, +6%.
In Tay Valley, 32% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 95% of Canadian towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
7.8% of residents are aged 15 to 24; across Canada’s towns the figure is 11%. As a reference point, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Tay Valley, 57.2. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split.
21% of households are one person living alone, below 73% of Canadian towns
Private households by type and size.
Against Ontario’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
A household here has 2.3 people on average; across Canada’s towns, 2.4. Set beside that, 27% of households are one person living alone across Canada’s towns. For Tay Valley, the census puts one-parent families at 5.4%.
More married residents 15 and over than 90% of Canadian towns: 58%
Marital status of residents 15 and over, with common-law couples counted apart.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Singles who have never married make up 17% of adults, beside a typical 27%. For Tay Valley, the census puts common-law partners at 11%. As a reference point, 46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns.
Tay Valley ranks above 99% of Canadian towns on households in single-detached houses: 97%
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
Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in nearly three quarters of Canadian towns. To put it in context, 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns. Older homes outnumber new: 25% predate 1961, 20% date from 2001 or later.
$90,000 a year: where the middle household sits
The census asked about income in 2020: a pandemic year, with CERB and other emergency benefits counted in. 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, and Tay Valley’s, at $90,000, is close to it. For Ontario’s towns, the median household income is $91,600. Pandemic payments such as CERB reached 20% of income recipients here, against 28% in the typical town.
6.1% 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
The largest groups of immigrants were born in Europe (61%) and in the Americas (25%). Few places have so few residents without Canadian citizenship: 0.9% here, fewer than in 91% of Canadian towns. Across Canada’s towns, the share of immigrants is 17%; Tay Valley has 6.1%.
A smaller share of residents with no religion than 56% of Canadian towns: 33%
Visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion, as residents answered the census.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Here 1.1% of residents belong to a visible minority, where the figure across Canada’s towns is 15%. In Tay Valley, 2.8% of residents have an Indigenous identity. To put it in context, 35% of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns.
A higher share of bilingual residents than 64% of Canadian towns, at 11%
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
Against a figure of 1.5% across Canada’s towns, the share of residents whose mother tongue is French in Tay Valley comes in at 2.7%. On average, 7.5% of residents speak English and French across Canada’s towns.
Tay Valley sits below 75% of Canadian towns for degree holders aged 25 to 64 (18%)
From no certificate to a master’s: residents 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Holding no credential: 8.8% (typical 9.5%). Elsewhere, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
Employment: 48% of residents 15 and over had a job
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 48%, fewer residents are in work than the typical 58% across Canada’s towns, and 32% are 65 or over.
The 1st oldest of 41 towns of 6,085 to 6,247 people
Similar-sized towns by median age; each dot is a town.
Median ages climb from 32.9 (Grosvenor Park) to 57.2 (Tay Valley) across the group. The closest ages to Tay Valley’s belong to Sainte-Anne-des-Monts (53.6) and Central Business Dis (55.7).
Tay Valley and its 2 nearest towns: 1 of them are older
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each links to its own page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tay Valley | 6,171 | — | 57.2 | 32% | 6.1% |
| Perth | 6,972 | 10.2 km | 58.4 | 39% | 6.6% |
| Drummond/North Elmsley | 8,817 | 16.7 km | 50.8 | 25% | 5.4% |
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. “Visible minority” is the census’s term from the Employment Equity Act: people, other than Indigenous peoples, who are non-white in colour or race. Indigenous identity, immigrant status and religion are as residents answered. The page compares them with other towns and never labels a town by them.
- Against Ontario’s towns and Canada’s towns. Each comparison is its own median: over Ontario’s towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, and over all Canadian towns of that size (whole cities and First Nations reserves left out). Percentiles are within Canada only.
Questions about Tay Valley’s residents
What is the average age in Tay Valley?
Half the residents are older than 57.2 and half younger, older than 97% of Canadian towns; 12% are children under 15 and 32% are 65 or over.
Is Tay Valley bilingual?
English and French: 11% speak both (Canada’s towns: 7.5%). English only: 89%. French only: 0%. French mother tongue: 2.7%.
How diverse is Tay Valley?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 17% are immigrants; here, 6.1%. A visible minority makes up 1.1% and Indigenous residents 2.8%.
What religion are people in Tay Valley?
Most often Christian (66%) or no religion (33%); other religions make up 1%.
Is Tay Valley good for families?
Children under 15 are 12% of residents, against 16% across Canada’s towns. Couple families make up 67% of households and one-parent families 5.4%. Schools near Tay Valley are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Tay Valley?
Median total household income in Tay Valley was $90,000 in 2020, against a median of $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Tay Valley?
The latest figure is an estimate: 6,171 residents in July 2025. At the 2021 Census, Tay Valley counted 5,925, 5% 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).