Photo: Cantons-de-l'Est · CC BY-SA 4.0Waterville: 23% of residents are under 15, above 95% of Canadian towns
The share of residents with no religion is 46%, against 35% across Canada’s towns. About 2,643 people lived in Waterville in July 2025, Statistics Canada estimates. For Waterville, the census puts immigrants at 4.2%. The median age in the town is 39.2, lower than in 69% of Canadian towns.
What stands out about the people of Waterville
A bilingual town
52% of residents can hold a conversation in both English and French, more than in 91% of Canadian towns; 40% speak French only and 8.2% English only. English & French ↓
A town of families
Children under 15 are 23% of residents, more than in 95% of Canadian towns. Households average 2.5 people, and 10% are one-parent families. Ages ↓
Common-law couples
Common-law unions take in 32% of adults, more than in 96% of Canadian towns, while 31% are married. Couples ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
In Waterville, 52% of residents speak English and French, more than in 91% of Canadian towns
Every figure here comes from the 2021 Census unless it carries another date. 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
With residents whose mother tongue is English at 24%, Waterville is behind 81% of Canadian towns on that count. At home: French 70%, English 25%. The wider picture: 7.5% of residents speak English and French across Canada’s towns.
Since 2016, Waterville has grown +9%, faster than 76% of Canadian towns
How the population moved between the last two censuses, and since.
Change, 2016 to 2021
For comparison, the median is +4% across Canada’s towns and +4% across Quebec’s towns. Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025 is 15% higher again.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 17% in Waterville, less than in 63% of Canadian towns
Residents by five-year age band, each beside the typical town (the tick).
More residents are 10–14 than any other five-year age: 8% of residents, 1.4 times the share across Canada’s towns. Residents aged 15 to 24 are rarer here than in 61% of Canadian towns. Measured more widely, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Waterville, 39.2. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split.
One-parent families: 10%, a higher share than 80% of Canadian towns
Household types, then household sizes.
Against Quebec’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
Households average 2.5 people, against 2.4 across Canada’s towns. On the census count, 26% of households are one person living alone. Across Canada’s towns, one-parent families come to 8.2%.
32% of residents 15 and over live common-law, a share 96% of Canadian towns don’t reach
Married, common-law, single: residents 15 and over.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Against a figure of 46% across Canada’s towns, the share of married residents 15 and over in Waterville comes in at 31%. Common-law partners make up 11% across Canada’s towns.
Households in single-detached houses make up 76% in Waterville, more than in 66% of Canadian towns
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
Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in nearly three quarters of Canadian towns. Across Canada’s towns, households in single-detached houses come to 64%. Older homes outnumber new: 39% predate 1961, 17% date from 2001 or later. 11% of homes need major repairs, against a typical 5.8%.
Household income, middle of the range: $74,500 a year
Incomes here are for 2020, the year before the census, CERB and other pandemic benefits included. Income per household, before tax, with the groups it falls into.
Households by income · share of households
Waterville’s median household took in $74,500 before tax, 13% less than the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Within Quebec’s towns, the household in the middle had $74,000. 31% of income recipients received COVID-19 emergency or recovery benefits (typical: 28%).
Fewer residents who moved in within the year than 60% of Canadian towns: 10%
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
Where 5.8% of residents are not Canadian citizens across Canada’s towns, Waterville has 0.9%. Most immigrants were born in Europe (58%) or in the Americas (26%). The benchmark for residents who moved in within the year across Canada’s towns: 11%.
53% said they are Christian and 46% that they have no religion
Visible minority and Indigenous identity, then religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
The share of Indigenous residents trails 72% of Canadian towns: 1.5%. Here, 2% of residents belong to a visible minority.
A university degree: 27% of 25- to 64-year-olds
Highest certificate, diploma or degree of residents aged 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Without any certificate: 11% of 25- to 64-year-olds (typical: 9.5%).
66% of adults were employed in May 2021
May 2021 was still a pandemic month: the census’s work figures reflect that. Work, briefly: employment, unemployment, participation and working from home. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
The employment rate of 66% is above the typical 58% across Canada’s towns.
Of 41 towns its size (2,601 to 2,686 people), the 10th youngest
The Canadian towns closest in population, from youngest to oldest.
Median ages climb from 31 (La Ronge) to 67.7 (Brockville) across the group. Next to Waterville on this scale come Grey (38.8), Gold Bar (39.2), Tumbler Ridge (39.6) and Boothill (40).
No nearby town is as young as Waterville
The closest towns, coloured by how old their residents are.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waterville | 2,643 | — | 39.2 | 17% | 4.2% |
| Hatley | 2,512 | 3.0 km | 50 | 25% | 6.8% |
| Compton | 3,351 | 7.5 km | 41.2 | 20% | 3.1% |
| Sherbrooke | 184,135 | 11.0 km | 41.2 | 21% | 8.8% |
| Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley | 2,938 | 12.4 km | 50 | 24% | 4.7% |
| Ascot Corner | 3,725 | 18.5 km | 40 | 16% | 2.7% |
| Ayer's Cliff | 1,284 | 18.8 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. 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. For origins the charts stop at visible minority and Indigenous identity, and the Census Profile has nothing on unpaid care, cars or the internet, or on change by age since 2016.
- The census’s own words. “Visible minority” is the census’s term from the Employment Equity Act: people, other than Indigenous peoples, who are non-white in colour or race. Indigenous identity, immigrant status and religion are as residents answered. The page compares them with other towns and never labels a town by them.
Questions about Waterville’s residents
What is the median income in Waterville?
Half of Waterville’s households had more than $74,500 in 2020, before tax; across Canada’s towns the median was $86,000.
What is the population of Waterville?
About 2,643, by Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025. The 2021 Census found 2,307 people in Waterville, 9% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Waterville?
The median age is 39.2, younger than 69% of Canadian towns. 23% are under 15 and 17% 65 or older.
Is Waterville bilingual?
52% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 40% speak French only and 8.2% English only. French is the mother tongue of 71%.
How diverse is Waterville?
Immigrants: 4.2% (Canada’s towns: 17%). Visible minority: 2%. Indigenous identity: 1.5%.
What religion are people in Waterville?
46% said they have no religion and 53% that they are Christian; 0.9% named another faith.
Is Waterville good for families?
23% of residents are under 15 (Canada’s towns: 16%); couple families are 59% of households and one-parent families 10%. Schools near Waterville are on its Schools page.
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).