Photo: Pymouss · CC BY-SA 4.0A larger share of one-parent families than 82% of Canadian towns: 11%
Residents with no religion: 26% here and 35% across Canada’s towns. The latest estimate, for July 2025, is 17,782 residents; the 2021 Census found 6,910 households. For Sainte-Catherine, the census puts residents who moved in within the year at 8.9%. 2% of households live in a building of five or more storeys, a higher share than in 65% of Canadian towns.
What stands out about the people of Sainte-Catherine
A bilingual town
Both official languages: 50% of residents speak English and French, more than in 90% of Canadian towns. Another 48% speak only French and 1.6% only English. English & French ↓
Common-law couples
25% of residents 15 and over live common-law, more than in 89% of Canadian towns; 32% are married. Couples ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Above 90% of Canadian towns: 50% of residents speak English and French
Unless a figure says otherwise, it is from the 2021 Census. 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
At home: French 85%, English 5.1%. Measured more widely, 7.5% of residents speak English and French across Canada’s towns. Few places have so few residents whose mother tongue is English: 4.4% here, fewer than in 88% of Canadian towns.
+2% since 2016, a pace below 66% of Canadian towns
How the population moved between the last two censuses, and since.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025 is 3% higher again. Across Canada’s towns, half of towns changed by more than +4%; across Quebec’s towns, by more than +4%.
Older than 59% of Canadian towns: half of Sainte-Catherine is over 43.6
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
The biggest five-year age group is 55–59, with 7.8% of residents. The highest share aged 65 or over among Quebec’s towns is Centre’s: 46%. Set against 16% across Canada’s towns, 17% of residents are under 15 in Sainte-Catherine.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Sainte-Catherine, 43.6. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women.
Sainte-Catherine households average 2.4 people, smaller than in 53% of Canadian towns
Private households by type and size.
Against Quebec’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
In Sainte-Catherine, 28% of households are one person living alone.
A higher share of common-law partners than 89% of Canadian towns, at 25%
Marital status of residents 15 and over, with common-law couples counted apart.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
28% of adults have never married and don’t live common-law (typical: 27%). Measured more widely, just over one in ten residents 15 and over live common-law across Canada’s towns.
Households in single-detached houses: 55%, a lower share than 62% 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
Newer homes outnumber old: 19% date from 2001 or later, 4.3% from before 1961. As a yardstick, 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns. The figure for renter households is 27% in Sainte-Catherine and 25% across Canada’s towns.
Half above, half below $89,000 a year in household income
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
The median across Canada’s towns is $86,000, and Sainte-Catherine’s, at $89,000, is close to it. Within Quebec’s towns, the household in the middle had $74,000. COVID-19 benefits were paid to 29% of residents with an income, where the typical town had 28%.
11% 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
A third of immigrants arrived between 2011 and 2021, against 27% across Canada’s towns. Residents without Canadian citizenship account for 2.1%. On immigrants, Sainte-Catherine sits lower than 63% of Canadian towns: 11%.
71% said they are Christian and 26% that they have no religion
Visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion, as residents answered the census.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Among other religions: Muslim (2.8%). Few places have so few Indigenous residents: 1.9% here, fewer than in 63% of Canadian towns. Just over one in ten residents belong to a visible minority, against 15% across Canada’s towns.
Degree holders aged 25 to 64: 21%, a lower share than 64% of Canadian towns
From no certificate to a master’s: residents 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Some 12% have no certificate, diploma or degree, against a typical 9.5%. The usual figure: 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
A job for 67% of residents aged 15 and over
Census day was in May 2021, mid-pandemic: some of these rates are lower than in a usual year. The census’s work rates at a glance. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
More people work here than in the typical town: 67%, against 58% across Canada’s towns.
The 10th oldest of 41 towns of 17,303 to 18,296 people
Similar-sized towns by median age; each dot is a town.
The youngest is Schmidtville (29) and the oldest Edmundston (54). Next to Sainte-Catherine on this scale come Fallingbrook (42.9), Victoria Village (43), Lake Country (44) and Saint-Michel (45.6).
Median age: 1 of the 6 towns around Sainte-Catherine are older
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each links to its own page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sainte-Catherine | 17,782 | — | 43.6 | 19% | 11% |
| Delson | 8,802 | 1.9 km | 42.4 | 17% | 12% |
| Saint-Constant | 32,124 | 2.5 km | 40 | 14% | 14% |
| Candiac | 24,920 | 4.1 km | 42 | 17% | 17% |
| Sault-Saint-Louis | 47,270 | 5.7 km | 43.8 | 22% | 32% |
| Desmarchais-Crawford | 18,505 | 5.9 km | 40.3 | 17% | 13% |
| Ville-Émard | 13,826 | 6.8 km | 39.6 | 18% | 28% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The census’s own words. Indigenous identity, immigrant status and religion are as residents answered them. “Visible minority” follows the Employment Equity Act, meaning people other than Indigenous peoples who are non-white in colour or race. We compare these figures across towns; none is a label for a town.
- 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.
- 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.
Questions about Sainte-Catherine’s residents
What is the population of Sainte-Catherine?
About 17,782, by Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025. The 2021 Census found 17,347 people in Sainte-Catherine, 2% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Sainte-Catherine?
The median age is 43.6, older than 59% of Canadian towns. 17% are under 15 and 19% 65 or older.
Is Sainte-Catherine bilingual?
50% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 48% speak French only and 1.6% English only. French is the mother tongue of 83%.
How diverse is Sainte-Catherine?
Immigrants: 11% (Canada’s towns: 17%). Visible minority: 11%. Indigenous identity: 1.9%.
What religion are people in Sainte-Catherine?
26% said they have no religion and 71% that they are Christian; 3.5% named another faith.
Is Sainte-Catherine good for families?
17% of residents are under 15 (Canada’s towns: 16%); couple families are 55% of households and one-parent families 11%. Schools near Sainte-Catherine are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Sainte-Catherine?
Half of Sainte-Catherine’s households had more than $89,000 in 2020, before tax; across Canada’s towns the median was $86,000.
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).