Photo: Fairchild Aviation Limited (d'après l'inscription dans le coin inférieur droit de la photo) · Public domainA median age of 54.4: Shawinigan is older than 94% of Canadian towns
In Shawinigan the average household is 1.9 people, beside 2.4 across Canada’s towns. 7.7% of residents are aged 15 to 24, a lower share than in 93% of Canadian towns. This Quebec town had about 51,739 residents in July 2025, by Statistics Canada’s estimate, and 25,060 households at the 2021 Census. Census figures put immigrants at 2.1% here.
What stands out about the people of Shawinigan
Older than most towns
The middle resident of Shawinigan is 54.4; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 31% are 65 or over, against 19% across Canada’s towns. Ages ↓
Many people living alone
One-person households make up 44%, more than in 93% of Canadian towns, and 31% of residents are 65 or over. Households ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Shawinigan ranks above 77% of Canadian towns on bilingual residents: 25%
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
At home: French 98%, English 0.9%. Lower than in 94% of Canadian towns: 1.2% of residents have English as their mother tongue. Bilingual residents: 7.5% across Canada’s towns, for comparison.
Shawinigan’s population moved +1% on 2016, less than in 74% 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 Quebec’s towns the median is +4%, and across Canada’s towns +4%.
Shawinigan sits above 94% of Canadian towns for residents aged 65 and over (31%)
Every five-year age group as a share of residents; ticks mark the typical town.
The largest age band is 60–64: one in ten residents, 1.5 times the share across Canada’s towns. Fewer children under 15 than in just over four fifths of Canadian towns: 13%. Elsewhere, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Shawinigan, 54.4. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women.
One-person households: 44%, a higher share than 93% of Canadian towns
Household types, then household sizes.
Against Quebec’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
On the census count, 8.2% of households are one-parent families. As a yardstick, 27% of households are one person living alone across Canada’s towns.
Shawinigan sits above 88% of Canadian towns for common-law partners (25%)
How adults live as couples, or don’t, with common-law unions shown on their own.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Singles who have never married make up 30% of adults, beside a typical 27%. Married residents 15 and over: 28% of the total. Across Canada’s towns, the share of common-law partners is 11%.
Shawinigan ranks above 79% of Canadian towns on renter households: 44%
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. 50% of households live in a single-detached house. Typically, a quarter of households rent their home across Canada’s towns.
Household income, middle of the range: $53,600 a year
Incomes are 2020’s, the census’s reference year, and include pandemic benefits such as CERB. 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; Shawinigan’s, at $53,600, is 38% lower. Among Quebec’s towns, the typical figure is $74,000. In 2020, 25% of income recipients drew a COVID-19 emergency or recovery benefit; the typical town had 28%.
Residents who moved in within the year make up 12% in Shawinigan, more than in 57% of Canadian towns
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
Recent arrivals are 44% of immigrants (2011 to 2021), beside 27% across Canada’s towns. On the census count, 1.5% of residents are not Canadian citizens. Set beside that, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns.
Fewer residents with no religion than 78% of Canadian towns: 24%
Visible minority and Indigenous identity, then religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
The share of Indigenous residents is 1.7%, against 2.8% across Canada’s towns. For comparison, 35% of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns. Here, 2.2% of residents belong to a visible minority.
A lower share of degree holders aged 25 to 64 than 83% of Canadian towns, at 15%
Highest certificate, diploma or degree of residents aged 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
At the other end, 16% hold no certificate, diploma or degree, against a typical 9.5%. Typically, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
In work on census day: 48% of adults
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.
At 48%, fewer residents are in work than the typical 58% across Canada’s towns, and 31% are 65 or over.
Oldest by rank: 1st of 41 towns of 43,555 to 60,874 people
Towns of about this size, placed by median age.
Median ages climb from 34.9 (Whalley) to 54.4 (Shawinigan) across the group. By median age, Shawinigan sits among Vernon (49.2) and West Vancouver (50.8).
A younger town than 1 of the 6 around it: Shawinigan
The closest towns, coloured by how old their residents are.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shawinigan | 51,739 | — | 54.4 | 31% | 2.1% |
| Notre-Dame-du-Mont-Carmel | 6,613 | 10.6 km | 42.4 | 19% | 1.4% |
| Saint-Boniface | 5,405 | 11.5 km | 41.6 | 20% | 0.9% |
| Hérouxville | 1,570 | 12.5 km | 49.6 | 23% | 1.1% |
| Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc | 1,598 | 13.0 km | 56.4 | 30% | 2.7% |
| Saint-Étienne-des-Grès | 4,675 | 16.3 km | 42 | 19% | 1.1% |
| Saint-Narcisse | 1,848 | 19.2 km | 50.8 | 28% | 2% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. Two medians frame each figure: one for Quebec’s towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, one for all Canadian towns of that size, with whole cities and First Nations reserves left out. Percentiles rank the town within Canada.
- 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 Shawinigan’s residents
What is the population of Shawinigan?
Shawinigan had about 51,739 residents in July 2025, Statistics Canada estimates; the 2021 Census counted 49,620, about the same as 2016.
What is the average age in Shawinigan?
A median age of 54.4, older than 94% of Canadian towns. Children under 15 make up 13%, and people 65 and over 31%.
Is Shawinigan bilingual?
Both official languages are spoken by 25% of residents, against a typical 7.5% across Canada’s towns. 0.2% speak only English and 75% only French; 97% grew up with French.
How diverse is Shawinigan?
2.1% of residents are immigrants (Canada’s towns: 17%); 2.2% belong to a visible minority and 1.7% have an Indigenous identity.
What religion are people in Shawinigan?
75% are Christian and 24% have no religion; 0.9% follow another religion.
Is Shawinigan good for families?
Under 15: 13% (Canada’s towns: 16%). Couple families: 43% of households. One-parent families: 8.2%. Schools near Shawinigan are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Shawinigan?
The median household in Shawinigan took in $53,600 in 2020, against $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
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).