Photo: SaguenayMaville · CC BY-SA 4.0Residents with no religion: 21%, a lower share than 85% of Canadian towns
Across Canada’s towns, households average 2.4 people; in Saguenay, 2.1. There are about as many residents as in 2016. Immigrants: 1.4% of the total. On residents aged 65 and over, Saguenay sits higher than 79% of Canadian towns: 25%.
What stands out about the people of Saguenay
Common-law couples
Common-law unions take in 28% of adults, more than in 92% of Canadian towns, while 31% are married. Couples ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
24% of residents speak English and French, more than in 77% of Canadian towns
The 2021 Census is the source of every figure here unless a date says otherwise. English, French and the other languages people grew up with or speak at home.
Can hold a conversation in · share of all residents
Mother tongue · share of all residents
Here 0.8% of residents have English as their mother tongue, where the figure across Canada’s towns is 66%. The share of bilingual residents across Canada’s towns is 7.5%. At home: French 98%, English 0.7%.
Saguenay changed by −1% from 2016 to 2021, behind 84% 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
The July 2025 estimate adds another 5%. Across Quebec’s towns the median is +4%, and across Canada’s towns +4%.
A median age of 46: Saguenay is older than 72% of Canadian towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
The figure for residents aged 15 to 24 is 9.9% in Saguenay and 11% across Canada’s towns. More residents are 60–64 than any other five-year age: nearly one in ten residents.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Saguenay, 46. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split.
Saguenay ranks above 81% of Canadian towns on one-person households: 36%
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.
Census figures put one-parent families at 7.5% in Saguenay. For one-person households, the comparison across Canada’s towns is 27%.
Saguenay ranks above 92% of Canadian towns on common-law partners: 28%
Marital status of residents 15 and over, with common-law couples counted apart.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
27% of adults are single and have never married; the typical town has 27%. As a yardstick, just over one in ten residents 15 and over live common-law across Canada’s towns.
38% of households rent their home, more than in 72% of Canadian towns
Houses and apartments, owners and renters, older and newer homes. 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: 1.6%, above 63% of Canadian towns. On average, a quarter of households rent their home across Canada’s towns. Across Saguenay, 48% of households live in a single-detached house.
The middle household earns $69,000 a year
The census asked about income in 2020: a pandemic year, with CERB and other emergency benefits counted in. Income per household, before tax, with the groups it falls into.
Households by income · share of households
The middle household in Saguenay had $69,000 before tax, 20% below the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). For Quebec’s towns, the median household income is $74,000. In 2020, 25% of income recipients drew a COVID-19 emergency or recovery benefit; the typical town had 28%.
1.4% of residents are immigrants
Immigrants by continent of birth and when they arrived, citizenship, and who moved in recently.
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 5.8% across Canada’s towns, 1.5% of residents are not Canadian citizens here. On the census count, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier.
A larger share of Indigenous residents than 61% of Canadian towns: 3.8%
Identity and faith, in the census’s categories.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Compared with 15% across Canada’s towns, 2% of residents belong to a visible minority here. Across Canada’s towns, Indigenous residents come to 2.8%.
A lower share of degree holders aged 25 to 64 than 61% of Canadian towns, at 22%
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 Saguenay, 22%, and 50% have a college or trades credential (typical: 29%). Those with no credential make up 9.8%, next to 9.5% in the typical town.
57% of residents 15 and over were in work
Counted in May 2021, during COVID-19, these rates catch the job market before it had recovered. The census’s work rates at a glance. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
At 57%, the share in work is about the typical 58% across Canada’s towns.
Ranked by age, 4th oldest of 41 towns this size
Similar-sized towns by median age; each dot is a town.
Median ages climb from 36 (Milton) to 50.4 (Cape Breton) across the group. In age, Saguenay keeps company with Niagara Falls (44.8), Nanaimo (45.2), Chatham (46.4) and Trois-Rivières (47.2).
A younger town than 1 of the 2 around it: Saguenay
Neighbouring places and their median ages; each name opens its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saguenay | 151,972 | — | 46 | 25% | 1.4% |
| Saint-Fulgence | 2,202 | 13.6 km | 48.8 | 26% | 0.7% |
| Saint-Honoré | 6,984 | 14.0 km | 38.4 | 17% | 0.6% |
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. Some things the page can’t show: the Census Profile asks nothing about unpaid care, cars or internet access, and gives no change by age since 2016. Ethnic origins beyond visible minority and Indigenous identity aren’t charted.
- 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.
Questions about Saguenay’s residents
What is the average age in Saguenay?
46 is the median age, older than 72% of Canadian towns. Under 15: 15%. 65 and over: 25%.
Is Saguenay bilingual?
Both official languages are spoken by 24% of residents, against a typical 7.5% across Canada’s towns. 0.2% speak only English and 75% only French; 97% grew up with French.
How diverse is Saguenay?
Immigrants make up 1.4% of residents, against 17% across Canada’s towns. 2% are members of a visible minority, and 3.8% are First Nations, Métis or Inuit.
What religion are people in Saguenay?
Christian: 78%. No religion: 21%. Another religion: 0.8%.
Is Saguenay good for families?
Across Canada’s towns, a typical 16% of residents are under 15; here, 15%. 51% of households are couple families and 7.5% one-parent families. Schools near Saguenay are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Saguenay?
$69,000 before tax, in 2020: the middle household’s income in Saguenay (Canada’s towns: $86,000).
What is the population of Saguenay?
Statistics Canada estimates 151,972 residents for July 2025; the 2021 Census counted 144,723 in Saguenay, about the same as 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).