Photo: Maxime Laterreur · CC BY 4.040% of households are one person living alone, more than in 89% of Canadian towns
Renter households: 43% here and 25% across Canada’s towns. Census figures put children under 15 at 19% in Waterloo. On visible minority residents, Waterloo sits lower than 84% of Canadian towns: 2.1%. There are 12% more residents than in 2016.
What stands out about the people of Waterloo
Common-law couples
28% of residents 15 and over live common-law, more than in 91% of Canadian towns; 26% are married. Couples ↓
Growing faster than most
Waterloo went from 4,410 people in 2016 to 4,920 in 2021, +12%: faster growth than in 86% of Canadian towns. Population change ↓
Many people living alone
One-person households make up 40%, more than in 89% of Canadian towns, and 21% of residents are 65 or over. Households ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
More bilingual residents than 88% of Canadian towns: 45%
All figures are the 2021 Census’s unless another date is shown. 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
Set against 66% across Canada’s towns, 13% of residents have English as their mother tongue in Waterloo. Bilingual residents: 7.5% across Canada’s towns, for comparison.
A growing town: +12% since 2016, faster than 86% of Canadian towns
Two census counts, five years apart, and Statistics Canada’s newest estimate.
Change, 2016 to 2021
By July 2025, the estimate had risen a further 16%. Medians for comparison: +4% across Canada’s towns; +4% across Quebec’s towns.
Waterloo sits above 64% of Canadian towns for residents aged 65 and over (21%)
Age bands of five years, the town’s bars against the typical town’s ticks.
With a median age of 42.8, Waterloo is older than 54% of Canadian towns. Residents aged 15 to 24: 9.8% of the total. Across Canada’s towns, 19% of residents are 65 or over.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Waterloo, 42.8. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women.
Smaller households than 83% of Canadian towns: 2.1 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.
One in ten households are one-parent families (Canada’s towns: 8.2%).
28% of residents 15 and over live common-law, more than in 91% of Canadian towns
Residents 15 and over by marital status; the census counts common-law couples separately.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Across Canada’s towns, 46% of residents 15 and over are married; in Waterloo, 26%. The benchmark for common-law partners across Canada’s towns: 11%.
Waterloo sits below 76% of Canadian towns for households in single-detached houses (42%)
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 74% of Canadian towns. Older homes outnumber new: 35% predate 1961, 28% date from 2001 or later. On average, 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns.
Median household income: $59,200 a year
Census incomes are for 2020, the year before the census, when CERB and other pandemic benefits topped up many households. Total household income: the median household, and the spread from low to high.
Households by income · share of households
Household incomes run lower in Waterloo: half had less than $59,200, 31% under the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). The median across Quebec’s towns is $74,000. COVID-19 benefits were paid to 31% of residents with an income, where the typical town had 28%.
Waterloo ranks above 73% of Canadian towns on residents who moved in within the year: 14%
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 recent wave: 39% of immigrants arrived in 2011–2021 (Canada’s towns: 27%). Few places have so few immigrants: 3.4% here, fewer than in 88% of Canadian towns. Measured more widely, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns. The census found that 1.6% of residents are not Canadian citizens in Waterloo.
Waterloo ranks below 53% of Canadian towns on residents with no religion: 34%
Identity and faith, in the census’s categories.
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. The wider picture: 35% of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns.
Waterloo ranks below 80% of Canadian towns on degree holders aged 25 to 64: 16%
Education of residents 25 to 64, by highest credential.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
In work on census day: 57% of adults
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%, much like this 57%.
20th highest median age among 41 towns of 5,616 to 5,814
Median age of the Canadian towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
At one end is Montcalm (27.8), at the other Osoyoos (63.2). Next to Waterloo on this scale come Remington Park (42.3), Charleswood (42.3), Parkview (43.8) and Westwood (44.5).
A younger town than 5 of the 6 around it: Waterloo
Neighbouring places and their median ages; each name opens its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waterloo | 5,714 | — | 42.8 | 21% | 3.4% |
| Shefford | 7,704 | 8.3 km | 47.2 | 20% | 3.4% |
| Stukely-Sud | 1,242 | 10.2 km | 49.6 | 23% | 3.5% |
| Bromont | 12,413 | 12.2 km | 47.6 | 22% | 5.4% |
| Saint-Joachim-de-Shefford | 1,552 | 12.4 km | 40.8 | 18% | 3.3% |
| Lac-Brome | 6,307 | 12.5 km | 58 | 35% | 5.9% |
| Granby | 72,180 | 17.9 km | 47.6 | 26% | 5.3% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- 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.
Questions about Waterloo’s residents
Is Waterloo bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 45% are. Another 50% speak only French and 5.2% only English, and French is the first language of 83%.
How diverse is Waterloo?
Immigrants: 3.4% (Canada’s towns: 17%). Visible minority: 2.1%. Indigenous identity: 1.7%.
What religion are people in Waterloo?
34% said they have no religion and 64% that they are Christian; 1.5% named another faith.
Is Waterloo good for families?
19% of residents are under 15 (Canada’s towns: 16%); couple families are 44% of households and one-parent families 10%. Schools near Waterloo are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Waterloo?
Half of Waterloo’s households had more than $59,200 in 2020, before tax; across Canada’s towns the median was $86,000.
What is the population of Waterloo?
About 5,714, by Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025. The 2021 Census found 4,920 people in Waterloo, 12% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Waterloo?
The median age is 42.8, older than 54% of Canadian towns. 19% are under 15 and 21% 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).