Photo: Anonymous Unknown author · Public domainRivière-Rouge is older than 98% of Canadian towns: a median age of 58
By its share of Indigenous residents (10%), Rivière-Rouge is above 87% of Canadian towns. At the same time, on residents aged 15 to 24, Rivière-Rouge sits lower than 97% of Canadian towns: 6.6%. The latest estimate, for July 2025, is 4,882 residents; the 2021 Census found 2,325 households. For Rivière-Rouge, the census puts immigrants at 1.8%.
What stands out about the people of Rivière-Rouge
Older than most towns
Line Rivière-Rouge’s residents up by age and the one in the middle is 58; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 34% are 65 or over, against 19% across Canada’s towns. Ages ↓
Many people living alone
One-person households make up 42%, more than in 91% of Canadian towns, and 34% of residents are 65 or over. Households ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Rivière-Rouge sits above 79% of Canadian towns for bilingual residents (28%)
Figures are from the 2021 Census unless dated 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
Compared with 66% across Canada’s towns, 2% of residents have English as their mother tongue here. The usual figure: 7.5% of residents speak English and French across Canada’s towns. At home: French 98%, English 1.5%.
From 2016 to 2021, Rivière-Rouge outgrew 68% of Canadian towns: +7%
The census counts of 2016 and 2021, the estimate after them, and the change set beside other towns.
Change, 2016 to 2021
The median across Canada’s towns is +4%, and across Quebec’s towns +4%. The July 2025 estimate adds another 5%.
34% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 97% of Canadian towns
Every five-year age group as a share of residents; ticks mark the typical town.
With children under 15 at 11%, Rivière-Rouge is behind 94% of Canadian towns on that count. Typically, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Rivière-Rouge, 58. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split.
More one-person households than 91% of Canadian towns: 42%
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.
6.2% of households are one-parent families; across Canada’s towns the figure is 8.2%. The comparison figure for one-person households is 27% across Canada’s towns. On average, 1.9 people share a household.
In Rivière-Rouge, 25% of residents 15 and over live common-law, more than in 88% 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
Here 32% of residents 15 and over are married, where the figure across Canada’s towns is 46%. Across Canada’s towns, the share of common-law partners is 11%.
Rivière-Rouge sits above 63% of Canadian towns for households in single-detached houses (73%)
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
Older homes outnumber new: 20% predate 1961, 19% date from 2001 or later. At 31%, the share of renter households is higher than in 60% of Canadian towns. On average, 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns. 0.4% of households live in a building of five or more storeys, about the same as across Canada’s towns.
Median household income here: $54,000 a year
Incomes are 2020’s, the census’s reference year, and include pandemic benefits such as CERB. Income per household, before tax, with the groups it falls into.
Households by income · share of households
Household incomes run lower in Rivière-Rouge: half had less than $54,000, 37% under the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Across Quebec’s towns, half of households had more than $74,000 before tax. 21% of income recipients received COVID-19 emergency or recovery benefits (typical: 28%).
Above 71% of Canadian towns: 14% of residents lived at another address a year earlier
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
Residents without Canadian citizenship are rarer here than in 99% of Canadian towns. For comparison, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns.
Rivière-Rouge sits below 81% of Canadian towns for residents with no religion (23%)
Identity and faith, in the census’s categories.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Visible minority residents: 1.2%, below 93% of Canadian towns. Elsewhere, 35% of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns.
Only 7.3% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher in Rivière-Rouge
Education of residents 25 to 64, by highest credential.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Across Canada’s towns, 27% of 25- to 64-year-olds hold a degree; in Rivière-Rouge, 7.3%, and 47% have a college or trades credential (typical: 29%). Those with no credential make up 22%, next to 9.5% in the typical town.
Employment: 41% of residents 15 and over had a job
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.
With 34% of residents 65 or over, the employment rate of 41% sits under the typical 58% across Canada’s towns.
Oldest by rank: 3rd of 41 towns of 4,775 to 4,989 people
Towns of about this size, placed by median age.
Empire Park is the youngest of them at 30.9; Sutton, at 60.4, the oldest. In age, Rivière-Rouge keeps company with Palliser (53.6), Hastings Highlands (57.6), Electoral Area H, Nanaimo (60) and Sutton (60.4).
The towns around Rivière-Rouge are all older
Neighbouring places and their median ages; each name opens its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rivière-Rouge | 4,882 | — | 58 | 34% | 1.8% |
| Nominingue | 2,290 | 10.5 km | 61.6 | 40% | 3% |
| La Macaza | 1,138 | 11.7 km | 58.4 | 32% | 6.2% |
| La Minerve | 1,492 | 18.1 km | 62 | 39% | 2.9% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What these tables don’t give. For origins the charts stop at visible minority and Indigenous identity, and the Census Profile has nothing on unpaid care, cars or the internet, or on change by age since 2016.
- The census’s own words. These are self-reported answers: Indigenous identity, immigrant status, religion. The census’s “visible minority” comes from the Employment Equity Act (non-white in colour or race, Indigenous peoples aside), and the page sets each beside other towns without labelling any.
- 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 Rivière-Rouge’s residents
Is Rivière-Rouge good for families?
Across Canada’s towns, a typical 16% of residents are under 15; here, 11%. 47% of households are couple families and 6.2% one-parent families. Schools near Rivière-Rouge are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Rivière-Rouge?
$54,000 before tax, in 2020: the middle household’s income in Rivière-Rouge (Canada’s towns: $86,000).
What is the population of Rivière-Rouge?
Statistics Canada estimates 4,882 residents for July 2025; the 2021 Census counted 4,631 in Rivière-Rouge, 7% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Rivière-Rouge?
58 is the median age, older than 98% of Canadian towns. Under 15: 11%. 65 and over: 34%.
Is Rivière-Rouge bilingual?
Both official languages are spoken by 28% of residents, against a typical 7.5% across Canada’s towns. 0.2% speak only English and 72% only French; 96% grew up with French.
How diverse is Rivière-Rouge?
Immigrants make up 1.8% of residents, against 17% across Canada’s towns. 1.2% are members of a visible minority, and 10% are First Nations, Métis or Inuit.
What religion are people in Rivière-Rouge?
Christian: 76%. No religion: 23%. Another religion: 0.4%.
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).