Photo: Wilfredor · CC042% of households are one person living alone, a share 91% of Canadian towns don’t reach
Across Canada’s towns, the share of households in single-detached houses is 64%; Québec has 30%. The 2021 Census found 265,710 households here; by July 2025 the population was about 592,658. The share of residents who moved in within the year stands at 14%. With a median age of 43.2, Québec is older than 57% of Canadian towns.
What stands out about the people of Québec
Many people living alone
One-person households make up 42%, more than in 91% of Canadian towns, and 23% of residents are 65 or over. Households ↓
Common-law couples
27% of residents 15 and over live common-law, more than in 91% of Canadian towns; 27% are married. Couples ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
A larger share of bilingual residents than 87% of Canadian towns: 43%
All figures are the 2021 Census’s unless another date is shown. 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
Where nearly two thirds of residents have English as their mother tongue across Canada’s towns, Québec has 1.4%. As a yardstick, 7.5% of residents speak English and French across Canada’s towns.
Québec’s population moved +3% on 2016, less than in 55% of Canadian towns
Two census counts, five years apart, and Statistics Canada’s newest estimate.
Change, 2016 to 2021
For comparison, the median is +4% across Canada’s towns and +4% across Quebec’s towns. Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025 is 8% higher again.
23% of residents are 65 or over, a share 72% of Canadian towns don’t reach
Age bands of five years, the town’s bars against the typical town’s ticks.
One in ten residents are aged 15 to 24 (Canada’s towns: 11%). The largest age band is 25–29: 7.2% of residents. Across the comparison, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women.
Smaller households than 90% of Canadian towns: 2 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.
Fewer one-parent families than in 62% of Canadian towns: 7.5%.
Common-law partners: 27%, a higher share than 91% of Canadian towns
Residents 15 and over by marital status; the census counts common-law couples separately.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Against a figure of 46% across Canada’s towns, the share of married residents 15 and over in Québec comes in at 27%. The comparison figure for common-law partners is 11% across Canada’s towns.
Above 85% of Canadian towns: 49% of households rent their home
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
With households in buildings of five or more storeys at 8.9%, Québec is ahead of 78% of Canadian towns on that count. Nearly a quarter of homes were built in 2001 or later, more than the 21% built before 1961. Across the comparison, 25% of households rent their home across Canada’s towns.
Before tax, the median household income is $70,500 a year
Census incomes are for 2020, the year before the census, when CERB and other pandemic benefits topped up many households. 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; Québec’s, at $70,500, is 18% lower. Among Quebec’s towns, the typical figure is $74,000. The pandemic’s benefits: 26% of income recipients, against 28% in the typical town.
8.5% 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
Compared with 17% across Canada’s towns, nearly one in ten residents are immigrants here. Immigrants here were most often born in Africa (41%), then in Europe (28%).
A smaller share of residents with no religion than 64% of Canadian towns: 31%
Identity and faith, in the census’s categories.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Other faiths: Muslim (3.3%). The share of residents with no religion across Canada’s towns is 35%. 1.8% of residents have an Indigenous identity, a lower share than in 65% of Canadian towns. Visible minority residents: 9.4% here and 15% across Canada’s towns.
More degree holders aged 25 to 64 than 65% of Canadian towns: 36%
Education of residents 25 to 64, by highest credential.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
No diploma or degree: 7.1% here, 9.5% in the typical town. For comparison, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
In work on census day: 60% of adults
Counted in May 2021, during COVID-19, these rates catch the job market before it had recovered. The census’s labour rates, in brief. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
Employment runs above the middle of Canada’s towns (58%), at 60%.
From a median age of 33 in Cité-Universitaire to 57 in Pointe-de-Sainte-Foy
The city’s 35 neighbourhoods, youngest first; each links its own page.
Pointe-de-Sainte-Foy is the oldest area, with 40% aged 65 or over; Cité-Universitaire the youngest (median age 33). Immigrants are most common in Plateau (20% of residents). Lairet has the most renters: 81% of households.
A younger town than 4 of the 6 around it: Québec
Neighbouring places and their median ages; each name opens its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Québec | 592,658 | — | 43.2 | 23% | 8.5% |
| Neufchatel Est—Lebourgneuf | 37,164 | 1.4 km | 47.1 | 25% | 6.2% |
| Charlesbourg | 9,660 | 2.7 km | 49.6 | 30% | 6.6% |
| Saint-Rodrigue | 12,018 | 2.7 km | 46.1 | 29% | 14% |
| Duberger—Les Saules | 27,419 | 2.9 km | 42.2 | 22% | 8.6% |
| Vanier | 13,494 | 3.5 km | 54.5 | 34% | 13% |
| Lairet | 15,251 | 3.7 km | 40.8 | 22% | 11% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Quebec’s towns and Canada’s towns. For each measure we take the median of Quebec’s towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, then the median of all Canadian towns. Neither counts whole cities or reserves, and every percentile is a Canadian one.
- 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. The census takes “visible minority” from the Employment Equity Act: anyone other than Indigenous peoples who is non-white in colour or race. Indigenous identity, immigrant status and religion are what residents reported, compared here with other towns and never used as a label.
Questions about Québec’s residents
What is the average age in Québec?
Half the residents are older than 43.2 and half younger; 15% are children under 15 and 23% are 65 or over.
Is Québec bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 43% are. Another 57% speak only French and 0.4% only English, and French is the first language of 91%.
How diverse is Québec?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 17% are immigrants; here, 8.5%. A visible minority makes up 9.4% and Indigenous residents 1.8%.
What religion are people in Québec?
Most often Christian (66%) or no religion (31%); other religions make up 4%.
Is Québec good for families?
Children under 15 are 15% of residents, against 16% across Canada’s towns. Couple families make up 45% of households and one-parent families 7.5%. Schools near Québec are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Québec?
Median total household income in Québec was $70,500 in 2020, against a median of $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Québec?
The latest figure is an estimate: 592,658 residents in July 2025. At the 2021 Census, Québec counted 549,459, 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).