Photo: Gabriel Picard · CC BY-SA 4.0Half of Sainte-Croix is over 50.4, older than 86% of Canadian towns
7.5% of residents are aged 15 to 24, against 11% across Canada’s towns. The 2021 Census found 1,125 households in Sainte-Croix; by July 2025 the population was about 2,612. The share of residents with no religion stands at 23%. At 35%, the share of one-person households is higher than in 78% of Canadian towns.
What stands out about the people of Sainte-Croix
Older than most towns
Half of Sainte-Croix’s residents are under 50.4 and half over; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 28% 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 92% of Canadian towns; 34% are married. Couples ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Bilingual residents make up 22% in Sainte-Croix, more than in 75% of Canadian towns
The figures are the 2021 Census’s, except where another date is given. 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
The share of residents whose mother tongue is English trails 98% of Canadian towns: 0.6%. As a yardstick, 7.5% of residents speak English and French across Canada’s towns.
+1% since 2016: slower than 74% of Canadian towns
How the population moved between the last two censuses, and since.
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 3%.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 28% in Sainte-Croix, more than in 88% of Canadian towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
No age band is larger than 55–59: nearly one in ten residents. The wider picture: 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns. Little separates the share of children under 15 here, 16%, from the figure across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Sainte-Croix, 50.4. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
47% women, 53% men
About 111 men for every 100 women.
Households here average 2.1 people, below 83% of Canadian towns
Who shares a home: household types and sizes.
Against Quebec’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
For Sainte-Croix, the census puts one-parent families at 7.1%.
A higher share of common-law partners than 92% of Canadian towns, at 29%
Marital status of residents 15 and over, with common-law couples counted apart.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Singles who have never married make up a quarter of adults, beside a typical 27%. Across the comparison, just over one in ten residents 15 and over live common-law across Canada’s towns.
Sainte-Croix: 30% of households rent their home, above 59% 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
The share of households in single-detached houses is 70%, against 64% across Canada’s towns. The comparison figure for renter households is 25% across Canada’s towns. Older homes outnumber new: 29% predate 1961, 19% date from 2001 or later. Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in nearly three quarters of Canadian towns.
Half of households earn more than $62,800 a year
Census incomes are for 2020, the year before the census, when CERB and other pandemic benefits topped up many households. Total household income: the median household, and the spread from low to high.
Households by income · share of households
Household incomes run lower in Sainte-Croix: half had less than $62,800, 27% under the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). For Quebec’s towns, the median household income is $74,000. 29% of income recipients received COVID-19 emergency or recovery benefits (typical: 28%).
In Sainte-Croix, 17% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, more than in 86% of Canadian towns
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
With residents without Canadian citizenship at 3.5%, Sainte-Croix is behind 62% of Canadian towns on that count. Set beside that, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns. Census figures put immigrants at 1% locally.
75% said they are Christian and 23% that they have no religion
Residents’ own answers on visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Across Canada’s towns, 15% of residents belong to a visible minority; in Sainte-Croix, 3.8%. Census figures put Indigenous residents at 0.6% here.
Degree holders aged 25 to 64 make up 12% in Sainte-Croix, less than in 92% of Canadian towns
The highest diploma or degree of adults of working age (25 to 64).
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Without any certificate: 18% of 25- to 64-year-olds (typical: 9.5%).
A job for 61% 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.
Employment runs above the middle of Canada’s towns (58%), at 61%.
Ranked by age, 9th oldest of 41 towns this size
Similar-sized towns by median age; each dot is a town.
Between City Commercial Core (32.7) and Brockville (67.7) lies the rest of the group. Closest in median age to Sainte-Croix are Bonfield (48), Sainte-Victoire-de-Sorel (50), East Preston (50.7) and Macassa (53.2).
Every nearby town is younger than Sainte-Croix
Places nearby, shaded by median age, each linked to its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sainte-Croix | 2,612 | — | 50.4 | 28% | 1% |
| Donnacona | 7,785 | 6.6 km | 44.8 | 25% | 2.2% |
| Saint-Édouard-de-Lotbinière | 1,295 | 8.6 km | 42.8 | 21% | 1.2% |
| Cap-Santé | 3,885 | 8.9 km | 44 | 22% | 1.8% |
| Laurier-Station | 2,838 | 11.6 km | 46 | 23% | 1.2% |
| Saint-Antoine-de-Tilly | 1,747 | 13.9 km | 49.6 | 28% | 3.9% |
| Neuville | 4,579 | 14.3 km | 46 | 20% | 2.2% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- 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. Each comparison is its own median: over Quebec’s towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, and over all Canadian towns of that size (whole cities and First Nations reserves left out). Percentiles are within Canada only.
Questions about Sainte-Croix’s residents
What religion are people in Sainte-Croix?
75% are Christian and 23% have no religion; 2.1% follow another religion.
Is Sainte-Croix good for families?
Under 15: 16% (Canada’s towns: 16%). Couple families: 52% of households. One-parent families: 7.1%. Schools near Sainte-Croix are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Sainte-Croix?
The median household in Sainte-Croix took in $62,800 in 2020, against $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Sainte-Croix?
Sainte-Croix had about 2,612 residents in July 2025, Statistics Canada estimates; the 2021 Census counted 2,529, about the same as 2016.
What is the average age in Sainte-Croix?
A median age of 50.4, older than 86% of Canadian towns. Children under 15 make up 16%, and people 65 and over 28%.
Is Sainte-Croix bilingual?
22% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 77% speak French only and 0.2% English only. French is the mother tongue of 96%.
How diverse is Sainte-Croix?
1% of residents are immigrants (Canada’s towns: 17%); 3.8% belong to a visible minority and 0.6% have an Indigenous identity.
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).