Photo: Anonymous Unknown author · Public domainA lower share of residents aged 15 to 24 than 97% of Canadian towns, at 6.6%
88% of households live in a single-detached house, against 64% across Canada’s towns. For Sainte-Mélanie, the census puts immigrants at 1.2%. Visible minority residents are rarer here than in 93% of Canadian towns. There are 9% more residents than in 2016.
What stands out about the people of Sainte-Mélanie
Common-law couples
35% of residents 15 and over live common-law, more than in 98% of Canadian towns; 31% are married. Couples ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Above 79% of Canadian towns: 27% of residents speak English and French
The 2021 Census is the source of every figure here unless a date says 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
0.9% of residents have English as their mother tongue (Canada’s towns: 66%). By way of comparison, 7.5% of residents speak English and French across Canada’s towns.
Growth of +9% since 2016 puts Sainte-Mélanie ahead of 76% of Canadian towns
Two census counts, five years apart, and Statistics Canada’s newest estimate.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Across Canada’s towns, the typical town changed +4%; across Quebec’s towns, +4%. By July 2025, the estimate had risen a further 5%.
A larger share of children under 15 than 80% of Canadian towns: 19%
Every five-year age group as a share of residents; ticks mark the typical town.
With a median age of 43.2, Sainte-Mélanie is older than 57% of Canadian towns. Against that, 16% of residents are under 15 across Canada’s towns. Locally, a fifth of residents are 65 or over. The largest age band is 60–64: nearly one in ten residents, 1.3 times the share across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Sainte-Mélanie, 43.2. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About 104 men for every 100 women.
2.3 people per household, fewer than in 64% of Canadian towns
Household types, then household sizes.
Against Quebec’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
8.6% of households are one-parent families. One-person households make up 28%, against 27% across Canada’s towns.
A larger share of common-law partners than 98% of Canadian towns: 35%
How adults live as couples, or don’t, with common-law unions shown on their own.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
The figure for married residents 15 and over is 31% in Sainte-Mélanie and 46% across Canada’s towns. The comparison figure for common-law partners is 11% across Canada’s towns.
A lower share of renter households than 64% of Canadian towns, at 19%
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
27% of homes were built in 2001 or later, more than the 13% built before 1961. For renter households, the comparison across Canada’s towns is 25%. Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in nearly three quarters of Canadian towns.
Household income at the median: $74,500 a year
The census asked about income in 2020: a pandemic year, with CERB and other emergency benefits counted in. Household income before tax: the median, and households by income group.
Households by income · share of households
At $74,500, the middle household in Sainte-Mélanie earned 13% less than the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). $74,000 is the median household income across Quebec’s towns. Pandemic payments such as CERB reached 28% of income recipients here, against 28% in the typical town.
A larger share of residents who moved in within the year than 56% of Canadian towns: 12%
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 residents who moved in within the year, the comparison across Canada’s towns is 11%.
Residents with no religion make up 32% in Sainte-Mélanie, less than in 59% of Canadian towns
Visible minority and Indigenous identity, then religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
In Sainte-Mélanie, 0.9% of residents have an Indigenous identity, beside 2.8% across Canada’s towns. Across the comparison, just over a third of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns.
Sainte-Mélanie ranks below 74% of Canadian towns on degree holders aged 25 to 64: 18%
Highest certificate, diploma or degree of residents aged 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
No certificate at all: 13%, against 9.5%. By way of comparison, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
A job for 62% of residents aged 15 and over
The census was taken in May 2021, during the pandemic, so these rates show a labour market still recovering. Four labour figures from the census. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
The employment rate of 62% is above the typical 58% across Canada’s towns.
41 towns of 3,352 to 3,477 people: this is the 16th youngest
Towns of about this size, placed by median age.
Median ages climb from 32.8 (Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier) to 61.2 (Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap) across the group. In age, Sainte-Mélanie keeps company with Riverdale East (43.2), Niakwa Place (43.2), Buchanan (43.4) and Mackenzie (43.6).
Sainte-Mélanie sits below 4 of its 6 closest neighbours on median age
The closest towns, coloured by how old their residents are.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sainte-Mélanie | 3,417 | — | 43.2 | 20% | 1.2% |
| Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes | 3,328 | 4.7 km | 41.6 | 18% | 1.1% |
| Saint-Ambroise-de-Kildare | 4,615 | 5.5 km | 42.8 | 21% | 1.9% |
| Saint-Félix-de-Valois | 7,670 | 6.8 km | 47.2 | 25% | 1.2% |
| Sainte-Marcelline-de-Kildare | 1,941 | 7.2 km | 46.8 | 21% | 2.2% |
| Saint-Charles-Borromée | 16,904 | 9.1 km | 57.2 | 39% | 2.6% |
| Notre-Dame-des-Prairies | 9,622 | 9.6 km | 50.4 | 28% | 2.3% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What these tables don’t give. Not in the Census Profile: unpaid care, cars, internet access, and how each age group has changed since 2016. We also chart no ethnic origins besides visible minority and Indigenous identity.
- 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.
- 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.
Questions about Sainte-Mélanie’s residents
What is the population of Sainte-Mélanie?
Statistics Canada estimates 3,417 residents for July 2025; the 2021 Census counted 3,250 in Sainte-Mélanie, 9% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Sainte-Mélanie?
43.2 is the median age, older than 57% of Canadian towns. Under 15: 19%. 65 and over: 20%.
Is Sainte-Mélanie bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 27% are. Another 73% speak only French and 0.5% only English, and French is the first language of 97%.
How diverse is Sainte-Mélanie?
Immigrants make up 1.2% of residents, against 17% across Canada’s towns. 1.2% are members of a visible minority, and 0.9% are First Nations, Métis or Inuit.
What religion are people in Sainte-Mélanie?
Christian: 68%. No religion: 32%. Another religion: 0.1%.
Is Sainte-Mélanie good for families?
Across Canada’s towns, a typical 16% of residents are under 15; here, 19%. 56% of households are couple families and 8.6% one-parent families. Schools near Sainte-Mélanie are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Sainte-Mélanie?
$74,500 before tax, in 2020: the middle household’s income in Sainte-Mélanie (Canada’s towns: $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).