Photo: Edwin Lester Brittain · CC BY-SA 4.0A higher share of households in single-detached houses than 93% of Canadian towns, at 93%
Nearly one in ten residents have an Indigenous identity; across Canada’s towns the figure is 2.8%. The 2021 Census found 2,375 households in Pontiac; by July 2025 the population was about 6,490. Children under 15: 20% of the total. Residents aged 65 and over are rarer here than in 72% of Canadian towns.
What stands out about the people of Pontiac
A bilingual town
Both official languages: 65% of residents speak English and French, more than in 97% of Canadian towns. Another 11% speak only French and 24% only English. English & French ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Above 97% of Canadian towns: 65% of residents speak English and French
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
At home: French 49%, English 47%. To put it in context, 7.5% of residents speak English and French across Canada’s towns. On residents whose mother tongue is English, Pontiac sits lower than 76% of Canadian towns: 37%.
From 2016 to 2021, Pontiac outgrew 56% of Canadian towns: +5%
Two census counts, five years apart, and Statistics Canada’s newest estimate.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Across Canada’s towns the median change is +4%; across Quebec’s towns, +4%. Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025 is 6% higher again.
A smaller share of residents aged 15 to 24 than 73% of Canadian towns: 9.5%
Every five-year age group as a share of residents; ticks mark the typical town.
The median age in Pontiac is 41.6, lower than in 53% of Canadian towns. Across the comparison, 11% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across Canada’s towns. No age band is larger than 55–59: 8.8% of residents.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Pontiac, 41.6. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 109 men for every 100 women.
Larger households than 67% of Canadian towns: 2.6 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.
With one-person households at 24%, Pontiac is behind 63% of Canadian towns on that count. On the census count, 7.4% of households are one-parent families.
A larger share of common-law partners than 86% of Canadian towns: 23%
How adults live as couples, or don’t, with common-law unions shown on their own.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Set against 46% across Canada’s towns, just over two in five residents 15 and over are married in Pontiac. Across Canada’s towns, the share of common-law partners is 11%.
Renter households make up 12% in Pontiac, less than in 83% of Canadian towns
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
Newer homes outnumber old: 25% date from 2001 or later, 24% from before 1961. Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in nearly three quarters of Canadian towns. 9.9% of homes need major repairs, against a typical 5.8%.
Half of households earn more than $98,000 a year
Incomes here are for 2020, the year before the census, CERB and other pandemic benefits included. Total household income: the median household, and the spread from low to high.
Households by income · share of households
Half of Pontiac’s households had a total income above $98,000, 14% more 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 24% of residents with an income, where the typical town had 28%.
A lower share of residents who moved in within the year than 71% of Canadian towns, at 9.1%
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 immigrants were born in Europe (63%) or in the Americas (18%). Across Canada’s towns, residents who moved in within the year come to 11%. At 3.1%, the share of immigrants is lower than in 89% of Canadian towns. Add to that, of the immigrants living here, 16% came between 2011 and 2021; across Canada’s towns the share is 27%.
Residents with no religion: 31%, a lower share than 64% of Canadian towns
Identity and faith, in the census’s categories.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Visible minority residents: 2.5%, below 81% of Canadian towns. The usual figure: 35% of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns.
Pontiac ranks below 68% of Canadian towns on degree holders aged 25 to 64: 20%
Education of residents 25 to 64, by highest credential.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
No diploma or degree: 17% here, 9.5% in the typical town. Across the comparison, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
An employment rate of 61%
The census counted work in May 2021, mid-pandemic, so read these rates as a pandemic snapshot. Four labour figures from the census. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
More people work here than in the typical town: 61%, against 58% across Canada’s towns.
Among 41 towns of 6,400 to 6,577 people, the 20th youngest
Towns of about this size, placed by median age.
Median ages climb from 33.5 (City View) to 54.4 (Pictou County, Subdivision A) across the group. By median age, Pontiac sits among Pointe-Calumet (40.8), Princeville (41.2), Petrolia (42.8) and Garden Village (42.9).
Older than Pontiac: 4 of the 6 towns nearby
Neighbouring places and their median ages; each name opens its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pontiac | 6,490 | — | 41.6 | 15% | 3.1% |
| Dunrobin | 5,724 | 7.4 km | 46.4 | 16% | 18% |
| Fitzroy | 6,400 | 11.5 km | 48.3 | 21% | 7.8% |
| Chelsea | 8,998 | 14.0 km | 43.6 | 15% | 9.3% |
| Des Explorateurs | 31,128 | 14.4 km | 39 | 15% | 17% |
| Brookside - Briarbrook - Morgans Grant | 15,509 | 16.2 km | 37 | 9.2% | 37% |
| Carp | 5,621 | 16.4 km | 45.4 | 19% | 13% |
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. The middle of Quebec’s towns of 2,500 or more comes first, the middle of all Canadian towns second; cities as a whole and First Nations reserves stay out, and percentiles are within Canada.
Questions about Pontiac’s residents
What is the average age in Pontiac?
A median age of 41.6, younger than 53% of Canadian towns. Children under 15 make up 20%, and people 65 and over 15%.
Is Pontiac bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 65% are. Another 11% speak only French and 24% only English, and French is the first language of 55%.
How diverse is Pontiac?
3.1% of residents are immigrants (Canada’s towns: 17%); 2.5% belong to a visible minority and 8.3% have an Indigenous identity.
What religion are people in Pontiac?
69% are Christian and 31% have no religion; 0.6% follow another religion.
Is Pontiac good for families?
Under 15: 20% (Canada’s towns: 16%). Couple families: 60% of households. One-parent families: 7.4%. Schools near Pontiac are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Pontiac?
The median household in Pontiac took in $98,000 in 2020, against $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Pontiac?
Pontiac had about 6,490 residents in July 2025, Statistics Canada estimates; the 2021 Census counted 6,142, 5% 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).