Photo: Derek Hatfield from Peterborough, Canada · CC BY 2.0A larger share of Indigenous residents than 93% of Canadian towns: 14%
The figure for one-person households is 35% in Thunder Bay and 27% across Canada’s towns. On households in buildings of five or more storeys, Thunder Bay sits higher than 73% of Canadian towns: 5.3%. With about 117,671 residents in July 2025, Thunder Bay counted 48,405 households at the 2021 Census. In Thunder Bay, just over a fifth of residents are 65 or over.
What stands out about the people of Thunder Bay
First Nations, Métis and Inuit residents
An Indigenous identity is reported by 14% of residents, more than in 93% of Canadian towns, and 9.4% are Registered or Treaty Indians. Identity & religion ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Thunder Bay changed by +1% from 2016 to 2021, behind 71% of Canadian towns
Unless a figure says otherwise, it is from the 2021 Census. Two census counts, five years apart, and Statistics Canada’s newest estimate.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Across Canada’s towns the median change is +4%; across Ontario’s towns, +6%. By July 2025, the estimate had risen a further 8%.
Half of Thunder Bay is over 44, older than 62% of Canadian towns
Residents by five-year age band, each beside the typical town (the tick).
Where just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24 across Canada’s towns, Thunder Bay has 12%. No age band is larger than 60–64: 7.7% of residents.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Thunder Bay, 44. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split.
Households here average 2.2 people, below 74% 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.
The figure for one-parent families is 10% in Thunder Bay and 8.2% across Canada’s towns.
Thunder Bay ranks below 67% of Canadian towns on married residents 15 and over: 40%
Married, common-law, single: residents 15 and over.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Where just over one in ten residents 15 and over live common-law across Canada’s towns, Thunder Bay has 12%. 31% of adults are single and have never married; the typical town has 27%.
32% of households rent their home, a share 63% of Canadian towns don’t reach
Dwelling types, tenure and age of the housing. 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 two in five homes were built before 1961 and 8.7% in 2001 or later. The benchmark for renter households across Canada’s towns: 25%. Where 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns, Thunder Bay has 66%.
Median household income here: $77,500 a year
Incomes here are for 2020, the year before the census, CERB and other pandemic benefits included. Income per household, before tax, with the groups it falls into.
Households by income · share of households
Thunder Bay’s median household took in $77,500 before tax, 10% less than the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Among Ontario’s towns, the typical figure is $91,600. Emergency and recovery benefits reached 25% of those with an income, beside a typical 28%.
Thunder Bay sits above 58% of Canadian towns for residents who moved in within the year (12%)
Where immigrants were born and when they came, and how recently residents moved in.
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
Immigrants here were most often born in Europe (57%), then in Asia (24%). The benchmark for residents who moved in within the year across Canada’s towns: 11%. Few places have so few immigrants: 8.6% here, fewer than in 68% of Canadian towns. What’s more, of the immigrants living here, 18% came between 2011 and 2021; across Canada’s towns the share is 27%.
Thunder Bay sits above 65% of Canadian towns for residents with no religion (40%)
Residents’ own answers on visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
7.5% of residents belong to a visible minority (Canada’s towns: 15%). Across Canada’s towns, the share of residents with no religion is 35%.
1.9% of residents have French as their mother tongue, more than in 59% of Canadian towns
The official languages residents can speak, and the ones they learned first.
Can hold a conversation in · share of all residents
Mother tongue · share of all residents
On the census count, 8% of residents speak English and French. For residents whose mother tongue is French, the comparison across Canada’s towns is 1.5%.
27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher
The highest diploma or degree of adults of working age (25 to 64).
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
No diploma or degree: 11% here, 9.5% in the typical town.
52% of residents 15 and over were in work
The census was taken in May 2021, during the pandemic, so these rates show a labour market still recovering. Work, briefly: employment, unemployment, participation and working from home. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
The employment rate of 52% is below the typical 58% across Canada’s towns; 22% of residents are 65 or over.
Among 41 towns of 85,351 to 160,882 people, the 13th oldest
The Canadian towns closest in population, from youngest to oldest.
Median ages here range from 35.6 in Airdrie to 51.6 in Lindsay. The closest ages to Thunder Bay’s belong to Delta (44), Lévis (44), Saanich (44.4) and North Vancouver (44.4).
Around Thunder Bay, 1 of 2 towns have a higher median age
Places nearby, shaded by median age, each linked to its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunder Bay | 117,671 | — | 44 | 22% | 8.6% |
| Fort William 52 | 1,038 | 9.6 km | 37.6 | 16% | 0% |
| Oliver Paipoonge | 6,524 | 16.2 km | 46 | 21% | 6% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 Thunder Bay’s residents
What is the population of Thunder Bay?
The latest figure is an estimate: 117,671 residents in July 2025. At the 2021 Census, Thunder Bay counted 108,843, about the same as 2016.
What is the average age in Thunder Bay?
Half the residents are older than 44 and half younger, older than 62% of Canadian towns; 14% are children under 15 and 22% are 65 or over.
Is Thunder Bay bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 8% are. Another 0.1% speak only French and 92% only English, and French is the first language of 1.9%.
How diverse is Thunder Bay?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 17% are immigrants; here, 8.6%. A visible minority makes up 7.5% and Indigenous residents 14%.
What religion are people in Thunder Bay?
Most often Christian (56%) or no religion (40%); other religions make up 4.1%.
Is Thunder Bay good for families?
Children under 15 are 14% of residents, against 16% across Canada’s towns. Couple families make up 46% of households and one-parent families 10%. Schools near Thunder Bay are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Thunder Bay?
Median total household income in Thunder Bay was $77,500 in 2020, against a median of $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
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).