A higher share of Indigenous residents than 94% of Canadian towns, at 15%
68% of immigrants arrived between 2011 and 2021, against 27% across Canada’s towns. There are 5% more residents than in 2016. In Shellbrook, just over four in five households live in a single-detached house. With a median age of 47.2, Shellbrook is older than 77% of Canadian towns.
What stands out about the people of Shellbrook
First Nations, Métis and Inuit residents
An Indigenous identity is reported by 15% of residents, more than in 94% of Canadian towns, and 2.4% are Registered or Treaty Indians. Identity & religion ↓
Many older residents
28% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 88% of Canadian towns; 8.6% are 80 or over, and 36% of households are one person living alone. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Shellbrook grew +5% from 2016 to 2021, ahead of 53% of Canadian towns
The figures are the 2021 Census’s, except where another date is given. Two census counts, five years apart, and Statistics Canada’s newest estimate.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Across Canada’s towns the median change is +4%; across Saskatchewan’s towns, ±0%.
A higher share of residents aged 65 and over than 88% of Canadian towns, at 28%
Age bands of five years, the town’s bars against the typical town’s ticks.
Children under 15: 17% here and 16% across Canada’s towns. On average, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Shellbrook: 36% of households are one person living alone, above 79% of Canadian towns
Private households by type and size.
Against Saskatchewan’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
One in ten households are one-parent families; across Canada’s towns the figure is 8.2%. One-person households: 27% across Canada’s towns, for comparison.
9.2% of residents 15 and over live common-law, fewer than in 63% of Canadian towns
Residents 15 and over by marital status; the census counts common-law couples separately.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Against a figure of 46% across Canada’s towns, the share of married residents 15 and over in Shellbrook comes in at 49%. Common-law partners: 11% across Canada’s towns, for comparison.
Shellbrook ranks below 59% of Canadian towns on renter households: 22%
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
21% of homes were built in 2001 or later, more than the 18% built before 1961. Across Canada’s towns, 25% of households rent their home. Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in nearly three quarters of Canadian towns.
Median household income: $74,500 a year
The income year is 2020: a year of pandemic benefits such as CERB, which the figures count. 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; Shellbrook’s, at $74,500, is 13% lower. The provincial yardstick is $86,500, the median across Saskatchewan’s towns. The pandemic’s benefits: 18% of income recipients, against 28% in the typical town.
Above 56% of Canadian towns: 12% of residents lived at another address a year earlier
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
Here 6.5% of residents are immigrants, where the figure across Canada’s towns is 17%. Across Canada’s towns, residents who moved in within the year come to 11%. Immigrants here were most often born in Asia (47%), then in the Americas (26%). Compared with other places, residents without Canadian citizenship are scarce here: 2.7%, fewer than in 68% of Canadian towns.
Shellbrook ranks below 56% of Canadian towns on residents with no religion: 33%
Visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion, as residents answered the census.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
7.1% of residents belong to a visible minority (Canada’s towns: 15%). Residents with no religion make up 35% across Canada’s towns. Other faiths: Muslim (2%).
English is the mother tongue of 90%, and 3.7% speak French as well
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
At home: English 96%, French 0.3%. Shellbrook has more residents whose mother tongue is French than just over three fifths of Canadian towns, at 2%. Set against 7.5% across Canada’s towns, 3.7% of residents speak English and French locally.
In Shellbrook, 23% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, fewer than in 59% of Canadian towns
From no certificate to a master’s: residents 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
No diploma or degree: 8.6% here, 9.5% in the typical town. Typically, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
A job for 57% of residents aged 15 and over
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.
Employment here, 57%, matches the middle of Canada’s towns (58%) within a couple of points.
A younger town than 1 of the 5 around it: Shellbrook
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each links to its own page. No closer places have figures: these lie 17–41 km from Shellbrook.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shellbrook | 1,576 | — | 47.2 | 28% | 6.5% |
| Shellbrook No. 493 | 1,671 | 17.4 km | 46 | 21% | 1.6% |
| Duck Lake No. 463 | 1,092 | 24.1 km | 42 | 18% | 3% |
| Sturgeon Lake 101 | 1,285 | 30.1 km | 24 | 6.1% | 0% |
| Canwood No. 494 | 1,398 | 34.6 km | 50.8 | 26% | 1.9% |
| Ahtahkakoop 104 | 1,609 | 40.7 km | 24.4 | 7.1% | 0% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- Against Saskatchewan’s towns and Canada’s towns. For each measure we take the median of Saskatchewan’s towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, then the median of all Canadian towns. Neither counts whole cities or reserves, and every percentile is a Canadian one.
- 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 Shellbrook’s residents
Is Shellbrook good for families?
Across Canada’s towns, a typical 16% of residents are under 15; here, 17%. 50% of households are couple families and 10% one-parent families. Schools near Shellbrook are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Shellbrook?
$74,500 before tax, in 2020: the middle household’s income in Shellbrook (Canada’s towns: $86,000).
What is the population of Shellbrook?
Statistics Canada estimates 1,576 residents for July 2025; the 2021 Census counted 1,510 in Shellbrook, 5% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Shellbrook?
47.2 is the median age. Under 15: 17%. 65 and over: 28%.
Is Shellbrook bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 3.7% are. Another 0% speak only French and 96% only English, and French is the first language of 2%.
How diverse is Shellbrook?
Immigrants make up 6.5% of residents, against 17% across Canada’s towns. 7.1% are members of a visible minority, and 15% are First Nations, Métis or Inuit.
What religion are people in Shellbrook?
Christian: 64%. No religion: 33%. Another religion: 3.4%.
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).