Photo: Veillg1 · CC BY-SA 4.0A median age of 54: La Malbaie is older than 93% of Canadian towns
Residents with no religion: 15% here and 35% across Canada’s towns. The 2021 Census found 3,825 households in La Malbaie; by July 2025 the population was about 8,293. Here, 1.1% of residents are immigrants. More one-person households than in nearly four fifths of Canadian towns: 36%.
What stands out about the people of La Malbaie
Older than most towns
Line La Malbaie’s residents up by age and the one in the middle is 54; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 30% are 65 or over, against 19% across Canada’s towns. Ages ↓
Common-law couples
28% of residents 15 and over live common-law, more than in 92% of Canadian towns; 31% are married. Couples ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
La Malbaie sits above 74% of Canadian towns for bilingual residents (20%)
The 2021 Census is the source of every figure here unless a date says otherwise. Who can speak English and French, mother tongue, and the language spoken most at home.
Can hold a conversation in · share of all residents
Mother tongue · share of all residents
In La Malbaie, 0.8% of residents have English as their mother tongue, beside 66% across Canada’s towns. Against that, 7.5% of residents speak English and French across Canada’s towns.
±0% since 2016: slower than 80% of Canadian towns
How the population moved between the last two censuses, and since.
Change, 2016 to 2021
The July 2025 estimate is close to the census count. Across Canada’s towns, half of towns changed by more than +4%; across Quebec’s towns, by more than +4%.
Above 93% of Canadian towns: 30% of residents are 65 or over
Every five-year age group as a share of residents; ticks mark the typical town.
Children under 15: 13%, below 77% of Canadian towns. The usual figure: 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ La Malbaie, 54. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split.
2.1 people per household, fewer than in 83% of Canadian towns
Household types, then household sizes.
Against Quebec’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
The census found that 7.8% of households are one-parent families in La Malbaie.
In La Malbaie, 28% of residents 15 and over live common-law, more than in 92% of Canadian towns
How adults live as couples, or don’t, with common-law unions shown on their own.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Single and never married: 25% of adults, against a typical 27%. Here, 31% of residents 15 and over are married. The benchmark for common-law partners across Canada’s towns: 11%.
Above 61% of Canadian towns: 31% of households rent their home
The kinds of homes people live in, who owns and who rents, and how old the homes are. 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 nearly three quarters of Canadian towns. By way of comparison, a quarter of households rent their home across Canada’s towns. 32% of homes were built before 1961 and 13% in 2001 or later. Across Canada’s towns, the share of households in single-detached houses is 64%; La Malbaie has 68%.
The median household brings in $63,200 a year
The census asked about income in 2020: a pandemic year, with CERB and other emergency benefits counted in. Household income before tax: the median, and households by income group.
Households by income · share of households
The median across Canada’s towns is $86,000; La Malbaie’s, at $63,200, is 27% lower. Household incomes across Quebec’s towns have a median of $74,000. Pandemic payments such as CERB reached 28% of income recipients here, against 28% in the typical town.
La Malbaie sits below 81% of Canadian towns for residents who moved in within the year (8.1%)
Birthplaces and arrival years of immigrants, citizenship and recent moves.
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
Most recent wave: 18% of immigrants arrived in 2011–2021 (Canada’s towns: 27%). For La Malbaie, the census puts residents without Canadian citizenship at 1.1%. Measured more widely, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns.
3.1% of residents have an Indigenous identity, more than in 53% of Canadian towns
Visible minority and Indigenous identity, then religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Across Canada’s towns, 15% of residents belong to a visible minority; in La Malbaie, 0.9%. As a reference point, 2.8% of residents have an Indigenous identity across Canada’s towns.
Degree holders aged 25 to 64: 15%, a lower share than 83% of Canadian towns
Highest certificate, diploma or degree of residents aged 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
At the bottom of the ladder, 13% hold no certificate of any kind, against 9.5% in the typical town. The wider picture: 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
A job for 51% of residents aged 15 and over
May 2021 was still a pandemic month: the census’s work figures reflect that. Four labour figures from the census. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
51% of residents 15 and over have a job, against a typical 58% across Canada’s towns; 30% are 65 or more.
Oldest by rank: 3rd of 41 towns of 8,183 to 8,417 people
Towns of about this size, placed by median age.
The group spans Secord, youngest at 32.4, to Electoral Area G, Nanaimo, oldest at 60.8. Next to La Malbaie on this scale come Bayfield (52), Goderich (52.8), Electoral Area A, Comox Valley (58) and Electoral Area G, Nanaimo (60.8).
No nearby town is as old as La Malbaie
The closest towns, coloured by how old their residents are.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Malbaie | 8,293 | — | 54 | 30% | 1.1% |
| Clermont | 3,117 | 7.2 km | 51.2 | 29% | 0.3% |
| Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs | 1,169 | 13.3 km | 50.4 | 25% | 0.9% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. “Visible minority” is the census’s term from the Employment Equity Act: people, other than Indigenous peoples, who are non-white in colour or race. Indigenous identity, immigrant status and religion are as residents answered. The page compares them with other towns and never labels a town by them.
- Against Quebec’s towns and Canada’s towns. Provincial and national yardsticks: Quebec’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 La Malbaie’s residents
What is the population of La Malbaie?
About 8,293, by Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025. The 2021 Census found 8,235 people in La Malbaie, about the same as 2016.
What is the average age in La Malbaie?
The median age is 54, older than 93% of Canadian towns. 13% are under 15 and 30% 65 or older.
Is La Malbaie bilingual?
20% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 80% speak French only and 0.2% English only. French is the mother tongue of 98%.
How diverse is La Malbaie?
Immigrants: 1.1% (Canada’s towns: 17%). Visible minority: 0.9%. Indigenous identity: 3.1%.
What religion are people in La Malbaie?
15% said they have no religion and 84% that they are Christian; 0.7% named another faith.
Is La Malbaie good for families?
13% of residents are under 15 (Canada’s towns: 16%); couple families are 52% of households and one-parent families 7.8%. Schools near La Malbaie are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in La Malbaie?
Half of La Malbaie’s households had more than $63,200 in 2020, before tax; across Canada’s towns the median was $86,000.
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).