Photo: Marilyne Lesage · CC BY-SA 3.0Older than 85% of Canadian towns: half of Desbiens is over 50
The figure for residents with no religion is 21% in Desbiens and 35% across Canada’s towns. Lower than in 93% of Canadian towns: 7.6% of residents are aged 15 to 24. With about 1,034 residents in July 2025, Desbiens counted 475 households at the 2021 Census. 37% of households are one person living alone.
What stands out about the people of Desbiens
Fewer people than before
Between the 2016 and 2021 censuses, Desbiens went from 1,028 to 995 residents (−3%), slower growth than in 92% of Canadian towns. Population change ↓
Older than most towns
The middle resident of Desbiens is 50; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 29% are 65 or over, against 19% across Canada’s towns. Ages ↓
Common-law couples
26% of residents 15 and over live common-law, more than in 89% of Canadian towns; 34% are married. Couples ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Above 67% of Canadian towns: 13% of residents speak English and French
The 2021 Census is the source of every figure here unless a date says otherwise. 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
By its share of residents whose mother tongue is English (1%), Desbiens is below 95% of Canadian towns. Elsewhere, 7.5% of residents speak English and French across Canada’s towns.
From 2016 to 2021, 92% of Canadian towns grew faster than Desbiens: −3%
Two census counts, five years apart, and Statistics Canada’s newest estimate.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025 is 4% higher again.
29% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 90% of Canadian towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
The largest age band is 60–64: nearly one in ten residents. As a reference point, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns. Children under 15 make up 15%, against 16% across Canada’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split.
Smaller households than 83% of Canadian towns: 2.1 people on average
Households by family type and by the number of people in them.
Against Quebec’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
Across Desbiens, nearly one in ten households are one-parent families.
A larger share of common-law partners than 89% of Canadian towns: 26%
Marital status of residents 15 and over, with common-law couples counted apart.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
With married residents 15 and over at 34%, Desbiens is behind nearly four fifths of Canadian towns on that count. The share of common-law partners across Canada’s towns is 11%.
In Desbiens, 23% of households rent their home, fewer than in 55% of Canadian towns
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 74% of Canadian towns. Older homes outnumber new: 46% predate 1961, 6.6% date from 2001 or later. Set beside that, a quarter of households rent their home across Canada’s towns. In Desbiens, nearly two thirds of households live in a single-detached house, beside 64% across Canada’s towns.
Household income at the median: $61,600 a year
Census incomes cover 2020, when emergency benefits like CERB lifted many households’ totals. Household income before tax: the median, and households by income group.
Households by income · share of households
Desbiens’s median household took in $61,600 before tax, 28% less than the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). The middle household across Quebec’s towns has $74,000 before tax. COVID-19 benefits were paid to 26% of residents with an income, where the typical town had 28%.
A smaller share of residents who moved in within the year than 74% of Canadian towns: 8.8%
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 20%
When immigrants arrived · share of immigrants
Citizenship and moving · share of residents
Immigrants are rarer here than in 99% of Canadian towns. By way of comparison, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns.
Desbiens ranks above 73% of Canadian towns on Indigenous residents: 5.6%
Identity and faith, in the census’s categories.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Visible minority residents are rarer here than in 99% of Canadian towns. As a yardstick, 2.8% of residents have an Indigenous identity across Canada’s towns.
Desbiens ranks below 98% of Canadian towns on degree holders aged 25 to 64: 8.7%
Education of residents 25 to 64, by highest credential.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
With no certificate, diploma or degree: 20%, beside a typical 9.5%. By way of comparison, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
An employment rate of 48%
The census counted work in May 2021, mid-pandemic, so read these rates as a pandemic snapshot. The census’s work rates at a glance. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
Fewer work here than in the typical town: 48%, against 58% across Canada’s towns. 29% of residents are 65 or over.
Desbiens is younger than 1 of its 3 nearest neighbours
Neighbouring places and their median ages; each name opens its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Desbiens | 1,034 | — | 50 | 29% | 0% |
| Métabetchouan--Lac-à-la-Croix | 4,230 | 6.2 km | 49.6 | 29% | 0.9% |
| Chambord | 1,800 | 7.5 km | 54 | 30% | 0.6% |
| Saint-Gédéon | 2,349 | 16.8 km | 48 | 24% | 0.5% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What these tables don’t give. Not in the Census Profile: unpaid care, cars, internet access, and how each age group has changed since 2016. We also chart no ethnic origins besides visible minority and Indigenous identity.
- 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 Quebec’s towns and Canada’s towns. Each comparison is its own median: over Quebec’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 Desbiens’s residents
What religion are people in Desbiens?
21% said they have no religion and 79% that they are Christian; 0% named another faith.
Is Desbiens good for families?
15% of residents are under 15 (Canada’s towns: 16%); couple families are 52% of households and one-parent families 8.4%. Schools near Desbiens are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Desbiens?
Half of Desbiens’s households had more than $61,600 in 2020, before tax; across Canada’s towns the median was $86,000.
What is the population of Desbiens?
About 1,034, by Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025. The 2021 Census found 995 people in Desbiens, 3% fewer than 2016.
What is the average age in Desbiens?
The median age is 50. 15% are under 15 and 29% 65 or older.
Is Desbiens bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 13% are. Another 87% speak only French and 0% only English, and French is the first language of 99%.
How diverse is Desbiens?
Immigrants: 0% (Canada’s towns: 17%). Visible minority: 0%. Indigenous identity: 5.6%.
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).