Photo: Mario Hains · CC BY-SA 3.0In Hatley, 95% of households live in a single-detached house, more than in 97% of Canadian towns
The share of one-person households is 20%, against 27% across Canada’s towns. At 30%, the share of residents with no religion is lower than in nearly two thirds of Canadian towns. A median age of 50 (older than 85% of Canadian towns) sets Hatley apart: 2,230 residents in 895 households at the 2021 Census. On the census count, 1.6% of residents are not Canadian citizens.
What stands out about the people of Hatley
A bilingual town
Both official languages: 62% of residents speak English and French, more than in 96% of Canadian towns. Another 31% speak only French and 6.7% only English. English & French ↓
Common-law couples
29% of residents 15 and over live common-law, more than in 93% of Canadian towns; 42% are married. Couples ↓
Older than most towns
Half of Hatley’s residents are under 50 and half over; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 25% are 65 or over, against 19% across Canada’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Above 96% of Canadian towns: 62% of residents speak English and French
Unless a figure says otherwise, it is from the 2021 Census. 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
The share of residents whose mother tongue is English is 20%, against 66% across Canada’s towns. Across Canada’s towns, the share of bilingual residents is 7.5%.
Hatley’s population changed by +6% since 2016, more than in 62% of Canadian towns
Residents at the 2016 and 2021 censuses and the latest estimate, with the 2016–2021 change beside other towns.
Change, 2016 to 2021
By July 2025, the estimate had risen a further 13%. For comparison, the median is +4% across Canada’s towns and +4% across Quebec’s towns.
A median age of 50: Hatley is older than 85% of Canadian towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
More residents are 65–69 than any other five-year age: one in ten residents, 1.7 times the share across Canada’s towns. In Hatley, one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Hatley, 50. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split.
Larger households than 58% of Canadian towns: 2.5 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.
One-parent families make up 5%, against 8.2% across Canada’s towns.
A higher share of common-law partners than 93% of Canadian towns, at 29%
Marital status of residents 15 and over, with common-law couples counted apart.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Just over a fifth of adults have never married and don’t live common-law (typical: 27%). For comparison, just over one in ten residents 15 and over live common-law across Canada’s towns.
Hatley sits below 86% of Canadian towns for renter households (11%)
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
Just over a third of homes were built in 2001 or later, more than the 20% built before 1961. Set beside that, a quarter of households rent their home across Canada’s towns. Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in 74% of Canadian towns.
Half of households earn more than $102,000 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
Household incomes run high in Hatley: half had more than $102,000, 19% above the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). $74,000 is the median household income across Quebec’s towns. COVID-19 benefits were paid to 26% of residents with an income, where the typical town had 28%.
A lower share of residents who moved in within the year than 62% of Canadian towns, at 9.8%
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
Set against 17% across Canada’s towns, 6.8% of residents are immigrants in Hatley. On average, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns. Most immigrants were born in Europe (67%) or in the Americas (20%).
3.6% of residents have an Indigenous identity, more than in 59% of Canadian towns
Identity and faith, in the census’s categories.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Visible minority residents: 2.9% here and 15% across Canada’s towns. The comparison figure for Indigenous residents is 2.8% across Canada’s towns.
Hatley sits above 77% of Canadian towns for degree holders aged 25 to 64 (43%)
Education of residents 25 to 64, by highest credential.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
5.5% of those aged 25 to 64 have no formal credential, where the typical town has 9.5%.
A job for 63% of residents aged 15 and over
Census day was in May 2021, mid-pandemic: some of these rates are lower than in a usual year. The census’s work rates at a glance. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
Employment runs above the middle of Canada’s towns (58%), at 63%.
The 12th oldest of 41 towns of 2,500 to 2,588 people
Similar-sized towns by median age; each dot is a town.
North Frontenac is the oldest at 61.6, City Commercial Core the youngest at 32.7. In age, Hatley keeps company with Clearwater (48.4), Rimbey (50), East Preston (50.7) and Nanton (52.8).
Hatley is older than every town around it
Neighbouring places and their median ages; each name opens its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hatley | 2,512 | — | 50 | 25% | 6.8% |
| Waterville | 2,643 | 3.0 km | 39.2 | 17% | 4.2% |
| Sherbrooke | 184,135 | 8.2 km | 41.2 | 21% | 8.8% |
| Compton | 3,351 | 10.5 km | 41.2 | 20% | 3.1% |
| Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley | 2,938 | 12.1 km | 50 | 24% | 4.7% |
| Ascot Corner | 3,725 | 17.2 km | 40 | 16% | 2.7% |
| Stoke | 3,272 | 18.8 km | 43.6 | 18% | 3% |
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. 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 Quebec’s towns and Canada’s towns. Two medians frame each figure: one for Quebec’s towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, one for all Canadian towns of that size, with whole cities and First Nations reserves left out. Percentiles rank the town within Canada.
Questions about Hatley’s residents
Is Hatley good for families?
Across Canada’s towns, a typical 16% of residents are under 15; here, 16%. 69% of households are couple families and 5% one-parent families. Schools near Hatley are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Hatley?
$102,000 before tax, in 2020: the middle household’s income in Hatley (Canada’s towns: $86,000).
What is the population of Hatley?
Statistics Canada estimates 2,512 residents for July 2025; the 2021 Census counted 2,230 in Hatley, 6% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Hatley?
50 is the median age, older than 85% of Canadian towns. Under 15: 16%. 65 and over: 25%.
Is Hatley bilingual?
English and French: 62% speak both (Canada’s towns: 7.5%). English only: 6.7%. French only: 31%. French mother tongue: 75%.
How diverse is Hatley?
Immigrants make up 6.8% of residents, against 17% across Canada’s towns. 2.9% are members of a visible minority, and 3.6% are First Nations, Métis or Inuit.
What religion are people in Hatley?
Christian: 68%. No religion: 30%. Another religion: 1.8%.
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).