Photo: Doug Kerr · CC BY-SA 2.0Fewer residents aged 65 and over than 88% of Canadian towns: 12%
With a median age of 37.2, Sainte-Sophie is younger than just over four fifths of Canadian towns. The 2021 Census found 7,210 households locally; by July 2025 the population was about 19,467. 76% of households live in a single-detached house. Immigrants make up 2.6%, against 17% across Canada’s towns.
What stands out about the people of Sainte-Sophie
Common-law couples
Common-law unions take in 39% of adults, more than in 99% of Canadian towns, while 26% are married. Couples ↓
A town of families
Children under 15 are 22% of residents, more than in 90% of Canadian towns. Households average 2.5 people, and 8.3% are one-parent families. Ages ↓
Growing faster than most
Between the 2016 and 2021 censuses, Sainte-Sophie went from 15,690 to 18,080 residents (+15%), faster growth than in 92% of Canadian towns. Population change ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
37% of residents speak English and French, more than in 84% of Canadian towns
Unless a figure says otherwise, it is from the 2021 Census. 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
Set against 66% across Canada’s towns, 1.9% of residents have English as their mother tongue in Sainte-Sophie. Across Canada’s towns, bilingual residents come to 7.5%.
A +15% change since 2016: Sainte-Sophie grew faster than 92% of Canadian towns
How the population moved between the last two censuses, and since.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Medians for comparison: +4% across Canada’s towns; +4% across Quebec’s towns. Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025 is 8% higher again.
Sainte-Sophie: 22% of residents are under 15, above 90% of Canadian towns
Every five-year age group as a share of residents; ticks mark the typical town.
9% of residents are aged 15 to 24 (Canada’s towns: 11%). No age band is larger than 30–34: 8.7% of residents, 1.4 times the share across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Sainte-Sophie, 37.2. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 107 men for every 100 women.
Larger households than 58% of Canadian towns: 2.5 people on average
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.
27% of households are one person living alone across Canada’s towns, against 25% in Sainte-Sophie. Census figures put one-parent families at 8.3% locally.
In Sainte-Sophie, 39% of residents 15 and over live common-law, more than in 99% of Canadian towns
How adults live as couples, or don’t, with common-law unions shown on their own.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Single and never married: 27% of adults, against a typical 27%. The benchmark for common-law partners across Canada’s towns: 11%. 26% of residents 15 and over are married.
In Sainte-Sophie, 21% of households rent their home, fewer than in 59% of Canadian towns
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
Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in 74% of Canadian towns. By way of comparison, 25% of households rent their home across Canada’s towns. Newer homes outnumber old: 55% date from 2001 or later, 8.2% from before 1961.
The middle household earns $84,000 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
At $84,000, the middle household in Sainte-Sophie earned close to the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). The figure for Quebec’s towns: $74,000. The pandemic’s benefits: 36% of income recipients, against 28% in the typical town.
A larger share of residents who moved in within the year than 62% 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
Across Canada’s towns, 5.8% of residents are not Canadian citizens; in Sainte-Sophie, 0.9%. For comparison, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns.
39% of residents said they have no religion, a share 64% of Canadian towns don’t reach
Identity and faith, in the census’s categories.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Where 15% of residents belong to a visible minority across Canada’s towns, Sainte-Sophie has 2.2%. The wider picture: just over a third of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns. 2.1% of residents have an Indigenous identity.
Below 96% of Canadian towns: 9.7% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher
Education of residents 25 to 64, by highest credential.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Without any certificate: 18% of 25- to 64-year-olds (typical: 9.5%).
68% of residents 15 and over were in work
These rates date from May 2021, during the pandemic, and run lower than a normal year’s. Four labour figures from the census. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
68% of residents 15 and over have a job; across Canada’s towns the typical share is 58%.
Youngest by rank: 14th of 41 towns of 19,006 to 19,986 people
Towns of about this size, placed by median age.
They run from Mitchell, at 28.8, to Pelham, at 50.4. Riverside South - Leitrim (36.7), Walkerville (37), Tuscany (37.8) and Overbrook (37.9): the towns nearest Sainte-Sophie in median age.
5 of the 6 nearest towns are older than Sainte-Sophie
Neighbouring places and their median ages; each name opens its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sainte-Sophie | 19,467 | — | 37.2 | 12% | 2.6% |
| Saint-Jérôme | 85,160 | 7.2 km | 45.2 | 24% | 5.8% |
| Saint-Hippolyte | 12,550 | 9.7 km | 44.4 | 17% | 4.2% |
| Prévost | 14,275 | 9.8 km | 44.8 | 19% | 2.8% |
| Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines | 15,904 | 11.9 km | 39.6 | 15% | 3.5% |
| Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs | 4,080 | 14.2 km | 53.2 | 25% | 8.2% |
| Saint-Lin--Laurentides | 26,673 | 14.4 km | 34.8 | 12% | 3.5% |
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. 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.
- 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.
Questions about Sainte-Sophie’s residents
Is Sainte-Sophie bilingual?
37% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 63% speak French only and 0.3% English only. French is the mother tongue of 95%.
How diverse is Sainte-Sophie?
Immigrants: 2.6% (Canada’s towns: 17%). Visible minority: 2.2%. Indigenous identity: 2.1%.
What religion are people in Sainte-Sophie?
39% said they have no religion and 60% that they are Christian; 0.9% named another faith.
Is Sainte-Sophie good for families?
22% of residents are under 15 (Canada’s towns: 16%); couple families are 58% of households and one-parent families 8.3%. Schools near Sainte-Sophie are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Sainte-Sophie?
Half of Sainte-Sophie’s households had more than $84,000 in 2020, before tax; across Canada’s towns the median was $86,000.
What is the population of Sainte-Sophie?
About 19,467, by Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025. The 2021 Census found 18,080 people in Sainte-Sophie, 15% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Sainte-Sophie?
The median age is 37.2, younger than 81% of Canadian towns. 22% are under 15 and 12% 65 or older.
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).