Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Indigenous residents make up 26% in Messines, more than in 98% of Canadian towns
Where just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24 across Canada’s towns, Messines has 7.6%. The latest estimate, for July 2025, is 1,691 residents; the 2021 Census found 790 households. The census found that 6.1% of residents lived at another address a year earlier locally. On one-person households, Messines sits higher than 72% of Canadian towns: 33%.
What stands out about the people of Messines
First Nations, Métis and Inuit residents
An Indigenous identity is reported by 26% of residents, more than in 98% of Canadian towns, and 4.5% are Registered or Treaty Indians. Identity & religion ↓
Older than most towns
Messines’s median age is 52.8; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 27% 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.
A higher share of bilingual residents than 86% of Canadian towns, at 41%
Unless a figure says otherwise, it is from the 2021 Census. 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
The share of residents whose mother tongue is English is 5.7%, against 66% across Canada’s towns. Across Canada’s towns, bilingual residents come to 7.5%.
Messines changed by +3% from 2016 to 2021, behind 58% of Canadian towns
The census counts of 2016 and 2021, the estimate after them, and the change set beside other towns.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025 is 2% higher again. For comparison, the median is +4% across Canada’s towns and +4% across Quebec’s towns.
Half of Messines is over 52.8, older than 91% of Canadian towns
Age bands of five years, the town’s bars against the typical town’s ticks.
Where 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns, Messines has 27%. By contrast, at 13%, the share of children under 15 is lower than in 80% of Canadian towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About 106 men for every 100 women.
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.
In Messines, nearly one in ten households are one-parent families.
Above 89% of Canadian towns: 26% of residents 15 and over live common-law
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 25% of adults, beside a typical 27%. On the census count, 34% of residents 15 and over are married. Common-law partners: 11% across Canada’s towns, for comparison.
Messines ranks above 86% of Canadian towns on households in single-detached houses: 89%
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
Newer homes outnumber old: 19% date from 2001 or later, 17% from before 1961. Compared with other places, renter households are scarce here: 16%, fewer than in 73% of Canadian towns. Set beside that, 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns.
Before tax, the median household income is $68,500 a year
Census incomes cover 2020, when emergency benefits like CERB lifted many households’ totals. Total household income: the median household, and the spread from low to high.
Households by income · share of households
The middle household in Messines had $68,500 before tax, 20% below the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Across Quebec’s towns, half of households had more than $74,000 before tax. Pandemic benefits reached 25% of residents with an income, against a typical 28%.
2.1% of residents are immigrants
Immigrants, newcomers and movers.
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
Residents without Canadian citizenship are rarer here than in 99% of Canadian towns. The share of immigrants trails 93% of Canadian towns: 2.1%.
Only 22% of residents said they have no religion in Messines
Identity and faith, in the census’s categories.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
With visible minority residents at 1.2%, Messines is behind 93% of Canadian towns on that count. Measured more widely, just over a third of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns.
Only 14% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher in Messines
Education of residents 25 to 64, by highest credential.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
No certificate, diploma or degree is held by 18%; in the typical town the share is 9.5%. On average, 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 labour rates, in brief. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
Fewer work here than in the typical town: 48%, against 58% across Canada’s towns. 27% of residents are 65 or over.
2 of the 4 nearest towns are older than Messines
Neighbouring places and their median ages; each name opens its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Messines | 1,691 | — | 52.8 | 27% | 2.1% |
| Kitigan Zibi | 1,261 | 11.1 km | 41.6 | 19% | 0% |
| Maniwaki | 3,803 | 14.7 km | 54.4 | 30% | 1.1% |
| Déléage | 2,047 | 15.5 km | 51.2 | 26% | 1.3% |
| Gracefield | 2,544 | 18.0 km | 54.8 | 29% | 2.1% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. 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.
- 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.
Questions about Messines’s residents
What is the average age in Messines?
A median age of 52.8. Children under 15 make up 13%, and people 65 and over 27%.
Is Messines bilingual?
Both official languages are spoken by 41% of residents, against a typical 7.5% across Canada’s towns. 1.8% speak only English and 57% only French; 91% grew up with French.
How diverse is Messines?
2.1% of residents are immigrants (Canada’s towns: 17%); 1.2% belong to a visible minority and 26% have an Indigenous identity.
What religion are people in Messines?
78% are Christian and 22% have no religion; 0.3% follow another religion.
Is Messines good for families?
Under 15: 13% (Canada’s towns: 16%). Couple families: 53% of households. One-parent families: 8.2%. Schools near Messines are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Messines?
The median household in Messines took in $68,500 in 2020, against $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Messines?
Messines had about 1,691 residents in July 2025, Statistics Canada estimates; the 2021 Census counted 1,655, 3% more than 2016.
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).