Photo: JFVoll · CC BY-SA 4.0River West is younger than 99% of Canadian towns: a median age of 30.6
Here just over a fifth of residents are aged 15 to 24, where the figure across Canada’s towns is 11%. River West had 13,940 residents in 6,125 households at the 2021 Census. Residents without Canadian citizenship account for 26%. At 44%, the share of visible minority residents is higher than in 81% of Canadian towns.
What stands out about the people of River West
Younger than most towns
The middle resident of River West is 30.6; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 12% are under 15 and 14% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
A neighbourhood of renters
68% of households rent their home, more than in 95% of Canadian towns; 43% live in an apartment. Homes ↓
A neighbourhood people move to
28% of residents lived at another address a year before the census, 2.5 times the typical share; 59% moved within five years. Immigrants & newcomers ↓
Many people living alone
One-person households make up 41%, more than in 90% of Canadian towns, and 14% of residents are 65 or over. Households ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
A smaller share of children under 15 than 85% of Canadian towns: 12%
All figures are the 2021 Census’s unless another date is shown. Age bands of five years, the town’s bars against the typical town’s ticks.
20–24 is the most common age band: 16% of residents, 3 times the share across Canada’s towns. Locally, 14% of residents are 65 or over.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ River West, 30.6. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
45% women, 55% men
About 121 men for every 100 women.
One-person households make up 41% in River West, more than in 90% of Canadian towns
Household types, then household sizes.
Against Ontario’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
The figure for one-parent families is 11% in River West and 8.2% across Canada’s towns. Households average 2.2 people. Shared houses stand out: 17% of households are unrelated adults living together, more than in 99% of Canadian towns. The benchmark for one-person households across Canada’s towns: 27%.
River West ranks below 97% of Canadian towns on married residents 15 and over: 24%
Residents 15 and over by marital status; the census counts common-law couples separately.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Nearly one in ten residents 15 and over live common-law; across Canada’s towns the figure is 11%. Single and never married: just over half of adults, against a typical 27%.
River West sits above 95% of Canadian towns for renter households (68%)
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
55% of homes were built before 1961 and 6.1% in 2001 or later. Across the comparison, a quarter of households rent their home across Canada’s towns. Compared with other places, households in buildings of five or more storeys are common here: 14%, more than in 83% of Canadian towns. Households in single-detached houses: 47%, below 71% of Canadian towns.
Household income at the median: $50,500 a year
Census incomes are for 2020, the year before the census, when CERB and other pandemic benefits topped up many households. Household income before tax: the median, and households by income group.
Households by income · share of households
At $50,500, the middle household in River West earned 41% less than the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Ontario’s towns have a median of $91,600. Pandemic benefits reached 39% of residents with an income, against a typical 28%.
River West ranks above 98% of Canadian towns on residents who moved in within the year: 28%
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 Asia (60%) or in the Americas (15%). The comparison figure for residents who moved in within the year is 11% across Canada’s towns. Of the immigrants living here, 42% came between 2011 and 2021; across Canada’s towns the share is 27%.
River West ranks above 63% of Canadian towns on Indigenous residents: 4.1%
Visible minority and Indigenous identity, then religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Other faiths: Muslim (11%) and Hindu (11%). The benchmark for Indigenous residents across Canada’s towns: 2.8%. Residents with no religion make up 36%, against 35% across Canada’s towns.
1.6% of residents have French as their mother tongue, more than in 52% of Canadian towns
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, 18% mostly speak another language; 2.3% speak neither English nor French. The wider picture: 1.5% of residents have French as their mother tongue across Canada’s towns. Compared with 7.5% across Canada’s towns, 6.5% of residents speak English and French here.
In River West, 34% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, more than in 62% of Canadian towns
Highest certificate, diploma or degree of residents aged 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
No diploma or degree: 13% here, 9.5% in the typical town. To put it in context, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
In work on census day: 46% of adults
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.
At 46%, fewer residents are in work than the typical 58% across Canada’s towns, and 14% are 65 or over.
41 towns of 13,615 to 14,247 people: this is the 2nd youngest
Median age of the Canadian towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
They run from Sandy Hill, at 29.7, to Tiny, at 55.2. Sandy Hill (29.7), Skyview Ranch (32.1) and Findlay Creek (32.9): the towns nearest River West in median age.
Every nearby town is older than River West
The closest towns, coloured by how old their residents are.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| River West | 13,940 | — | 30.6 | 14% | 21% |
| City Centre | 10,269 | 1.6 km | 44.4 | 22% | 43% |
| Sandwich | 14,110 | 2.1 km | 34.2 | 15% | 24% |
| South Central | 10,392 | 2.3 km | 37.9 | 15% | 30% |
| South Cameron | 11,804 | 2.7 km | 34.2 | 13% | 48% |
| Walkerville | 19,541 | 3.3 km | 37 | 14% | 28% |
| South Walkerville | 6,129 | 4.7 km | 43.2 | 20% | 15% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Neighbourhoods are sums of small areas. Statistics Canada publishes the census for municipalities, not neighbourhoods, so these figures add up the dissemination areas inside the neighbourhood. Counts are sums of StatCan’s rounded counts; the median age and income are worked out from the published age and income groups; and 2016 areas don’t add up to these, so there is no 2016 count.
- 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. In the census, “visible minority” is the Employment Equity Act’s term for people who are non-white in colour or race and not Indigenous. Like immigrant status, Indigenous identity and religion, which residents reported themselves, it is compared with other towns, never turned into 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 River West’s residents
How diverse is River West?
Immigrants: 21% (Canada’s towns: 17%). Visible minority: 44%. Indigenous identity: 4.1%.
What religion are people in River West?
36% said they have no religion and 39% that they are Christian; 25% named another faith.
Is River West good for families?
12% of residents are under 15 (Canada’s towns: 16%); couple families are 26% of households and one-parent families 11%. Schools near River West are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in River West?
Half of River West’s households had more than $50,500 in 2020, before tax; across Canada’s towns the median was $86,000.
What is the population of River West?
The 2021 Census counted 13,940 people in River West.
What is the average age in River West?
The median age is 30.6, younger than 99% of Canadian towns. 12% are under 15 and 14% 65 or older.
Is River West bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 6.5% are. Another 0.1% speak only French and 91% only English, and French is the first language of 1.6%.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population. 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).