Photo: R. L'Heureux · CC BY-SA 4.090% of households live in a single-detached house, more than in 88% of Canadian towns
A third of households are one person living alone, against 27% across Canada’s towns. Immigrants are rarer here than in 96% of Canadian towns. The latest estimate, for July 2025, is 1,084 residents; the 2021 Census found 435 households. Census figures put visible minority residents at 1% in Val-Alain.
What stands out about the people of Val-Alain
Common-law couples
36% of residents 15 and over live common-law, more than in 98% of Canadian towns; 25% are married. Couples ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
A larger share of bilingual residents than 75% of Canadian towns: 22%
The 2021 Census is the source of every figure here unless a date says otherwise. The official languages residents can speak, and the ones they learned first.
Can hold a conversation in · share of all residents
Mother tongue · share of all residents
Against a figure of 66% across Canada’s towns, the share of residents whose mother tongue is English in Val-Alain comes in at 1%. Across Canada’s towns, the share of bilingual residents is 7.5%.
From 2016 to 2021, Val-Alain outgrew 66% of Canadian towns: +7%
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%. The July 2025 estimate adds another 10%.
Above 73% of Canadian towns: 18% of residents are under 15
Residents by five-year age band, each beside the typical town (the tick).
Compared with 11% across Canada’s towns, one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24 here. More residents are 60–64 than any other five-year age: nearly one in ten residents. With a median age of 42.8, Val-Alain is older than 54% of Canadian towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
45% women, 55% men
About 121 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.
Across Canada’s towns, the share of one-parent families is 8.2%; Val-Alain has 9.2%.
Above 98% of Canadian towns: 36% of residents 15 and over live common-law
Married, common-law, single: residents 15 and over.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Singles who have never married make up 28% of adults, beside a typical 27%. A quarter of residents 15 and over are married, a lower share than in 96% of Canadian towns. Common-law partners make up 11% across Canada’s towns.
Only 19% of households rent their home in Val-Alain
Dwelling types, tenure and age of the housing. 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
Older homes outnumber new: 33% predate 1961, 18% date from 2001 or later. 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.
Before tax, the median household income is $62,800 a year
Census incomes cover 2020, when emergency benefits like CERB lifted many households’ totals. Total household income: the median household, and the spread from low to high.
Households by income · share of households
Half of Val-Alain’s households had a total income below $62,800, 27% under the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). For Quebec’s towns, the median household income is $74,000. COVID-19 benefits went to 32% of residents with an income (typical: 28%).
A larger share of residents who moved in within the year than 71% of Canadian towns: 14%
Where immigrants were born and when they came, and how recently residents moved in.
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. Measured more widely, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns.
A smaller share of residents with no religion than 73% of Canadian towns: 27%
Visible minority and Indigenous identity, then religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Against a figure of 2.8% across Canada’s towns, the share of Indigenous residents in Val-Alain comes in at 3.9%. Across the comparison, just over a third of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns.
A smaller share of degree holders aged 25 to 64 than 99% of Canadian towns: 2.7%
Highest certificate, diploma or degree of residents aged 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
No certificate, diploma or degree is held by 28%; in the typical town the share is 9.5%. Elsewhere, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
A job for 58% of residents aged 15 and over
The census counted work in May 2021, mid-pandemic, so read these rates as a pandemic snapshot. Work, briefly: employment, unemployment, participation and working from home. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
About as many work here as in the typical town: 58%, against 58% across Canada’s towns.
Every neighbour of Val-Alain has an older population
The closest towns, coloured by how old their residents are.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Val-Alain | 1,084 | — | 42.8 | 19% | 1.5% |
| Saint-Janvier-de-Joly | 1,204 | 11.2 km | 44 | 21% | 1.4% |
| Lyster | 1,679 | 11.9 km | 48 | 27% | 0.7% |
| Laurierville | 1,368 | 14.7 km | 45.6 | 22% | 0.8% |
| Saint-Flavien | 1,682 | 18.1 km | 44.4 | 23% | 1.9% |
| Laurier-Station | 2,838 | 18.1 km | 46 | 23% | 1.2% |
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. 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.
- 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 Val-Alain’s residents
What religion are people in Val-Alain?
Most often Christian (73%) or no religion (27%); other religions make up 0%.
Is Val-Alain good for families?
Children under 15 are 18% of residents, against 16% across Canada’s towns. Couple families make up 53% of households and one-parent families 9.2%. Schools near Val-Alain are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Val-Alain?
Median total household income in Val-Alain was $62,800 in 2020, against a median of $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Val-Alain?
The latest figure is an estimate: 1,084 residents in July 2025. At the 2021 Census, Val-Alain counted 986, 7% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Val-Alain?
Half the residents are older than 42.8 and half younger; 18% are children under 15 and 19% are 65 or over.
Is Val-Alain bilingual?
Both official languages are spoken by 22% of residents, against a typical 7.5% across Canada’s towns. 0.5% speak only English and 78% only French; 97% grew up with French.
How diverse is Val-Alain?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 17% are immigrants; here, 1.5%. A visible minority makes up 1% and Indigenous residents 3.9%.
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).