Photo: Joe Mabel (on Flickr as Joe Mabel from Seattle, US) · CC BY-SA 3.0A median age of 56.4: Wasaga Beach is older than 96% of Canadian towns
Across Canada’s towns, 16% of residents are under 15; in Wasaga Beach, 12%. For Wasaga Beach, the census puts households in single-detached houses at 83%. Residents who moved in within the year are more common here than in four fifths of Canadian towns. This Ontario town is home to some 28,736 people (July 2025 estimate), in 10,815 households at the 2021 Census.
What stands out about the people of Wasaga Beach
Older than most towns
Half of Wasaga Beach’s residents are under 56.4 and half over; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 35% are 65 or over, against 19% across Canada’s towns. Ages ↓
Growing faster than most
Between the 2016 and 2021 censuses, Wasaga Beach went from 20,675 to 24,862 residents (+20%), faster growth than in 96% of Canadian towns. Population change ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Since 2016, Wasaga Beach has grown +20%, faster than 96% of Canadian towns
The 2021 Census is the source of every figure here unless a date says otherwise. Two census counts, five years apart, and Statistics Canada’s newest estimate.
Change, 2016 to 2021
The July 2025 estimate adds another 16%. Across Canada’s towns, half of towns changed by more than +4%; across Ontario’s towns, by more than +6%.
Residents aged 65 and over: 35%, a higher share than 97% of Canadian towns
Age bands of five years, the town’s bars against the typical town’s ticks.
Against a figure of 11% across Canada’s towns, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 in Wasaga Beach comes in at 7.7%. To put it in context, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Wasaga Beach, 56.4. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women.
2.3 people per household, fewer than in 64% of Canadian towns
Household types, then household sizes.
Against Ontario’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
In Wasaga Beach, 7.5% of households are one-parent families. The share of one-person households is 26%, against 27% across Canada’s towns.
Wasaga Beach: 52% of residents 15 and over are married, above 67% of Canadian towns
Residents 15 and over by marital status; the census counts common-law couples separately.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Singles who have never married make up 20% of adults, beside a typical 27%. Locally, 11% of residents 15 and over live common-law.
Renter households make up 15% in Wasaga Beach, less than in 76% 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
47% of homes were built in 2001 or later, more than the 8.3% built before 1961. Renter households make up 25% across Canada’s towns. Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in 74% of Canadian towns.
Households here have a median income of $76,000 a year
The census asked about income in 2020: a pandemic year, with CERB and other emergency benefits counted in. 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; Wasaga Beach’s, at $76,000, is 12% lower. $91,600 is the median household income across Ontario’s towns. Pandemic payments such as CERB reached 25% of income recipients here, against 28% in the typical town.
17% of residents are immigrants
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
Of the immigrants living here, 6.3% came between 2011 and 2021; across Canada’s towns the share is 27%. Immigrants here were most often born in Europe (78%), then in the Americas (12%). On residents without Canadian citizenship, Wasaga Beach sits lower than just over two thirds of Canadian towns: 2.7%.
Wasaga Beach ranks above 60% of Canadian towns on residents with no religion: 38%
Visible minority and Indigenous identity, then religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Visible minority: 5.2% (Canada’s towns: 15%). For Wasaga Beach, the census puts Indigenous residents at 3.2%. The benchmark for residents with no religion across Canada’s towns: 35%.
English is the mother tongue of 84%, and 5.6% 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
Residents whose mother tongue is French make up 2%, close to the figure across Canada’s towns. Lower than in 68% of Canadian towns: 5.6% of residents speak English and French.
In Wasaga Beach, 15% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, fewer than in 81% of Canadian towns
Highest certificate, diploma or degree of residents aged 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
No diploma or degree: 12% here, 9.5% in the typical town. Across Canada’s towns, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher.
An employment rate of 41%
The census counted work in May 2021, mid-pandemic, so read these rates as a pandemic snapshot. The census’s labour rates, in brief. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
Across Canada’s towns the typical rate is 58%, above this 41%; 35% of residents are 65 or over.
In its size band (27,388 to 30,197), the 2nd oldest of 41 towns
Median age of the Canadian towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
Picton is the oldest at 56.8, Alloa the youngest at 31.3. The closest ages to Wasaga Beach’s belong to Banbury-Don Mills (48.8), Collingwood (50.8) and Picton (56.8).
Wasaga Beach is older than every town around it
The closest towns, coloured by how old their residents are.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wasaga Beach | 28,736 | — | 56.4 | 35% | 17% |
| Stayner | 16,571 | 10.0 km | 44.8 | 20% | 8% |
| Collingwood | 28,366 | 14.3 km | 50.8 | 30% | 13% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What these tables don’t give. Missing from the census as published: unpaid care, cars and internet access, and the shift in each age band since 2016. Ethnic origins past visible minority and Indigenous identity aren’t charted here.
- 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. The middle of Ontario’s towns of 2,500 or more comes first, the middle of all Canadian towns second; cities as a whole and First Nations reserves stay out, and percentiles are within Canada.
Questions about Wasaga Beach’s residents
What is the population of Wasaga Beach?
The latest figure is an estimate: 28,736 residents in July 2025. At the 2021 Census, Wasaga Beach counted 24,862, 20% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Wasaga Beach?
Half the residents are older than 56.4 and half younger, older than 96% of Canadian towns; 12% are children under 15 and 35% are 65 or over.
Is Wasaga Beach bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 5.6% are. Another 0% speak only French and 94% only English, and French is the first language of 2%.
How diverse is Wasaga Beach?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 17% are immigrants; here, 17%. A visible minority makes up 5.2% and Indigenous residents 3.2%.
What religion are people in Wasaga Beach?
Most often Christian (60%) or no religion (38%); other religions make up 2.1%.
Is Wasaga Beach good for families?
Children under 15 are 12% of residents, against 16% across Canada’s towns. Couple families make up 56% of households and one-parent families 7.5%. Schools near Wasaga Beach are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Wasaga Beach?
Median total household income in Wasaga Beach was $76,000 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).