Photo: Chicoutimi · CC BY-SA 3.0Stanstead is older than 82% of Canadian towns: a median age of 48.8
A household here has 2.2 people on average; across Canada’s towns, 2.4. Visible minority residents are rarer here than in 99% of Canadian towns. The latest estimate, for July 2025, is 2,994 residents; the 2021 Census found 1,275 households. On the census count, 31% of households rent their home.
What stands out about the people of Stanstead
A bilingual town
62% of residents can hold a conversation in both English and French, more than in 95% of Canadian towns; 12% speak French only and 26% English only. English & French ↓
Many older residents
27% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 86% of Canadian towns; 7.1% are 80 or over, and 37% of households are one person living alone. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
In Stanstead, 62% of residents speak English and French, more than in 95% of Canadian towns
Unless a figure says otherwise, it is from the 2021 Census. Knowledge of the two official languages, first languages, and the language of 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 is 51%, against 66% across Canada’s towns. Across Canada’s towns, the share of bilingual residents is 7.5%.
Since 2016, Stanstead has changed by +1%, slower than 69% 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
Medians for comparison: +4% across Canada’s towns; +4% across Quebec’s towns. The July 2025 estimate adds another 6%.
A higher share of residents aged 65 and over than 86% of Canadian towns, at 27%
Age bands of five years, the town’s bars against the typical town’s ticks.
55–59 is the most common age band: nearly one in ten residents. Residents aged 15 to 24 are rarer here than in 70% of Canadian towns. By way of comparison, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns. On children under 15, 16% here is much the same as across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Stanstead, 48.8. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 108 men for every 100 women.
Stanstead: 37% of households are one person living alone, above 82% 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.
Nothing unusual on one-parent families: 9%, close to the figure across Canada’s towns. As a reference point, 27% of households are one person living alone across Canada’s towns.
19% of residents 15 and over live common-law, more than in 83% of Canadian towns
Residents 15 and over by marital status; the census counts common-law couples separately.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
27% of adults are single and have never married; the typical town has 27%. Lower than in three quarters of Canadian towns: 36% of residents 15 and over are married. Common-law partners make up 11% across Canada’s towns.
In Stanstead, 65% of households live in a single-detached house, more than in 52% of Canadian towns
Occupied homes by type, by owners and renters, and by when they were built. 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 nearly three quarters of Canadian towns. Against that, 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns. 11% of homes need major repairs, against a typical 5.8%.
Households here have a median income of $54,800 a year
Incomes here are for 2020, the year before the census, CERB and other pandemic benefits included. What households took in before tax, at the middle and across income groups.
Households by income · share of households
The median across Canada’s towns is $86,000; Stanstead’s, at $54,800, is 36% lower. Across Quebec’s towns, half of households had more than $74,000 before tax. The pandemic’s benefits: 31% of income recipients, against 28% in the typical town.
8.9% of residents are immigrants
Immigrants, newcomers and movers.
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
Most immigrants were born in the Americas (76%) or in Europe (22%). Residents without Canadian citizenship are rarer here than in 73% of Canadian towns. Recent arrivals, from 2011 to 2021, are 4.1% of immigrants (typical: 27%); non-permanent residents add 0.5% of residents.
More residents with no religion than 62% of Canadian towns: 39%
Residents’ own answers on visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Locally, 2.2% of residents have an Indigenous identity. Across Canada’s towns, the share of residents with no religion is 35%.
A smaller share of degree holders aged 25 to 64 than 89% of Canadian towns: 12%
The highest diploma or degree of adults of working age (25 to 64).
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Across Canada’s towns, 27% of 25- to 64-year-olds hold a degree; in Stanstead, 12%, and 29% have a college or trades credential (typical: 29%). Those with no credential make up 25%, next to 9.5% in the typical town.
52% of adults were employed in May 2021
Counted in May 2021, during COVID-19, these rates catch the job market before it had recovered. The census’s labour rates, in brief. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
Across Canada’s towns the typical rate is 58%, above this 52%; 27% of residents are 65 or over.
In its size band (2,951 to 3,040), the 12th oldest of 41 towns
Median age of the Canadian towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
Median ages here range from 29.9 in Albany to 58.4 in Electoral Area C, Strathcona. Nearest to Stanstead in age: Riverside Park South - Revelstoke (47.4), Lesser Slave River No. 124 (48.8), Vanscoy No. 345 (49.2) and Huntingdon (49.6).
No nearby town is as young as Stanstead
Places nearby, shaded by median age, each linked to its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stanstead | 2,994 | — | 48.8 | 27% | 8.9% |
| Stanstead | 1,171 | 13.6 km | 58.8 | 33% | 5.2% |
| Ayer's Cliff | 1,284 | 19.1 km | 49.6 | 24% | 5.4% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Quebec’s towns and Canada’s towns. Provincial and national yardsticks: Quebec’s towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents, and all Canadian towns of that size. No whole city and no First Nations reserve is in either median.
- What these tables don’t give. The Census Profile has no unpaid care, cars or internet access, and no change by age since 2016; ethnic origins beyond visible minority and Indigenous identity aren’t charted here.
- 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.
Questions about Stanstead’s residents
What religion are people in Stanstead?
Christian: 61%. No religion: 39%. Another religion: 0.4%.
Is Stanstead good for families?
Across Canada’s towns, a typical 16% of residents are under 15; here, 16%. 48% of households are couple families and 9% one-parent families. Schools near Stanstead are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Stanstead?
$54,800 before tax, in 2020: the middle household’s income in Stanstead (Canada’s towns: $86,000).
What is the population of Stanstead?
Statistics Canada estimates 2,994 residents for July 2025; the 2021 Census counted 2,824 in Stanstead, 1% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Stanstead?
48.8 is the median age, older than 82% of Canadian towns. Under 15: 16%. 65 and over: 27%.
Is Stanstead bilingual?
Both official languages are spoken by 62% of residents, against a typical 7.5% across Canada’s towns. 26% speak only English and 12% only French; 42% grew up with French.
How diverse is Stanstead?
Immigrants make up 8.9% of residents, against 17% across Canada’s towns. 0% are members of a visible minority, and 2.2% are First Nations, Métis or Inuit.
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).