Photo: Gene.arboit · CC BY-SA 3.0Saint-Jean-de-Matha is older than 95% of Canadian towns: a median age of 55.6
One-person households: 35%, above 78% of Canadian towns. With about 5,415 residents in July 2025, Saint-Jean-de-Matha counted 2,260 households at the 2021 Census. Census figures put residents who moved in within the year at 6.7% in the town. On children under 15, Saint-Jean-de-Matha sits lower than 81% of Canadian towns: 13%.
What stands out about the people of Saint-Jean-de-Matha
Older than most towns
The middle resident of Saint-Jean-de-Matha is 55.6; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 30% are 65 or over, against 19% across Canada’s towns. Ages ↓
Common-law couples
29% of residents 15 and over live common-law, more than in 93% of Canadian towns; 31% are married. Couples ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Bilingual residents make up 29% in Saint-Jean-de-Matha, more than in 80% of Canadian towns
The figures are the 2021 Census’s, except where another date is given. 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
The figure for residents whose mother tongue is English is 1.2% in Saint-Jean-de-Matha and 66% across Canada’s towns. Bilingual residents make up 7.5% across Canada’s towns.
Saint-Jean-de-Matha grew +9% from 2016 to 2021, faster than 76% 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
Across Canada’s towns, half of towns changed by more than +4%; across Quebec’s towns, by more than +4%. By July 2025, the estimate had risen a further 12%.
Saint-Jean-de-Matha ranks below 98% of Canadian towns on residents aged 15 to 24: 6.5%
Every five-year age group as a share of residents; ticks mark the typical town.
Compared with 19% across Canada’s towns, 30% of residents are 65 or over here. Typically, 11% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Saint-Jean-de-Matha, 55.6. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split.
2 people per household, fewer than in 90% of Canadian towns
Household types, then household sizes.
Against Quebec’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
One-parent families make up 6.9% of households and couple families 52%, against 8.2% and 53% across Canada’s towns.
A larger share of common-law partners than 93% of Canadian towns: 29%
How adults live as couples, or don’t, with common-law unions shown on their own.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns, against 31% in Saint-Jean-de-Matha. Common-law partners make up 11% across Canada’s towns.
A higher share of households in single-detached houses than 86% of Canadian towns, at 89%
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: 21% date from 2001 or later, 20% from before 1961. By way of comparison, 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns. Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in 74% of Canadian towns. The share of renter households is 19%, against 25% across Canada’s towns.
Household income at the median: $62,800 a year
The income year is 2020: a year of pandemic benefits such as CERB, which the figures count. Household income before tax: the median, and households by income group.
Households by income · share of households
Half of Saint-Jean-de-Matha’s households had a total income below $62,800, 27% under the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). The median across Quebec’s towns is $74,000. COVID-19 benefits went to 29% of residents with an income (typical: 28%).
2.7% of residents are immigrants
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
Set against 17% across Canada’s towns, 2.7% of residents are immigrants in Saint-Jean-de-Matha. Few places have so few residents without Canadian citizenship: 0.7% here, fewer than in 94% of Canadian towns.
Below 73% of Canadian towns: 27% of residents said they have no religion
Visible minority and Indigenous identity, then religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Across Canada’s towns, 15% of residents belong to a visible minority; in Saint-Jean-de-Matha, 0.8%. Typically, just over a third of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns. Indigenous residents account for 1.8%.
A smaller share of degree holders aged 25 to 64 than 83% of Canadian towns: 15%
Highest certificate, diploma or degree of residents aged 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Across Canada’s towns, 27% of 25- to 64-year-olds hold a degree; in Saint-Jean-de-Matha, 15%, and 44% have a college or trades credential (typical: 29%). Those with no credential make up 18%, next to 9.5% in the typical town.
A job for 50% of residents aged 15 and over
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.
Across Canada’s towns the typical rate is 58%, above this 50%; 30% of residents are 65 or over.
Oldest by rank: 3rd of 41 towns of 5,333 to 5,504 people
Towns of about this size, placed by median age.
The youngest is Chisasibi (26.6) and the oldest Electoral Area L, Cariboo (60). Grand Falls / Grand-Sault (52.8), Central Frontenac (55.6), Inverness County, Subdivision A (56.4) and Electoral Area L, Cariboo (60): the towns nearest Saint-Jean-de-Matha in median age.
Among its 6 nearest neighbours, 1 are older than Saint-Jean-de-Matha
The closest towns, coloured by how old their residents are.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Jean-de-Matha | 5,415 | — | 55.6 | 30% | 2.7% |
| Sainte-Béatrix | 2,388 | 8.4 km | 51.6 | 24% | 1.4% |
| Sainte-Émélie-de-l'Énergie | 1,856 | 9.7 km | 54 | 27% | 1.7% |
| Saint-Damien | 2,569 | 11.3 km | 57.2 | 31% | 3.6% |
| Saint-Félix-de-Valois | 7,670 | 12.3 km | 47.2 | 25% | 1.2% |
| Sainte-Mélanie | 3,417 | 13.2 km | 43.2 | 20% | 1.2% |
| Sainte-Marcelline-de-Kildare | 1,941 | 13.8 km | 46.8 | 21% | 2.2% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- Against Quebec’s towns and Canada’s towns. A figure here is set beside two middles, the median across Quebec’s places of 2,500 people or more and the median across all Canadian towns that size; reserves and entire cities are excluded from both.
- 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.
Questions about Saint-Jean-de-Matha’s residents
Is Saint-Jean-de-Matha good for families?
13% of residents are under 15 (Canada’s towns: 16%); couple families are 52% of households and one-parent families 6.9%. Schools near Saint-Jean-de-Matha are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Saint-Jean-de-Matha?
Half of Saint-Jean-de-Matha’s households had more than $62,800 in 2020, before tax; across Canada’s towns the median was $86,000.
What is the population of Saint-Jean-de-Matha?
About 5,415, by Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025. The 2021 Census found 4,838 people in Saint-Jean-de-Matha, 9% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Saint-Jean-de-Matha?
The median age is 55.6, older than 95% of Canadian towns. 13% are under 15 and 30% 65 or older.
Is Saint-Jean-de-Matha bilingual?
Both official languages are spoken by 29% of residents, against a typical 7.5% across Canada’s towns. 0.3% speak only English and 71% only French; 97% grew up with French.
How diverse is Saint-Jean-de-Matha?
Immigrants: 2.7% (Canada’s towns: 17%). Visible minority: 0.8%. Indigenous identity: 1.8%.
What religion are people in Saint-Jean-de-Matha?
27% said they have no religion and 73% that they are Christian; 0.6% named another faith.
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).