Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.034% of households are one person living alone, more than in 75% of Canadian towns
Most recent wave: 62% of immigrants arrived in 2011–2021 (Canada’s towns: 27%). Census figures put residents who moved in within the year at 15% in Swift Current. At 22%, the share of residents aged 65 and over is higher than in 69% of Canadian towns. Some 18,154 people live here, by the estimate for July 2025.
A +1% change since 2016: slower than 71% of Canadian towns
Every figure here comes from the 2021 Census unless it carries another date. 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 8%. Across Canada’s towns, the typical town changed +4%; across Saskatchewan’s towns, ±0%.
Swift Current: 17% of residents are under 15, above 55% of Canadian towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
At 11%, residents aged 15 to 24 sit close to the figure across Canada’s towns. With a median age of 42, Swift Current is younger than just over half of Canadian towns. 35–39 is the most common age band: 7.1% of residents.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Swift Current, 42. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women.
2.2 people per household, fewer than in 74% of Canadian towns
Household types, then household sizes.
Against Saskatchewan’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
Set against 8.2% across Canada’s towns, 6.9% of households are one-parent families in Swift Current.
Fewer common-law partners than 69% of Canadian towns: 8.4%
Marital status of residents 15 and over, with common-law couples counted apart.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
The figure for married residents 15 and over is 51% in Swift Current and 46% across Canada’s towns. Across Canada’s towns, the share of common-law partners is 11%.
A larger share of renter households than 60% of Canadian towns: 30%
Houses and apartments, owners and renters, older and newer homes. 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: 1.5%, above 63% of Canadian towns. Measured more widely, 25% of households rent their home across Canada’s towns. 29% of homes were built before 1961 and 16% in 2001 or later.
The middle household earns $78,000 a year
Census incomes cover 2020, when emergency benefits like CERB lifted many households’ totals. Household income before tax: the median, and households by income group.
Households by income · share of households
The middle household in Swift Current had $78,000 before tax, 9% below the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Household incomes across Saskatchewan’s towns have a median of $86,500. The pandemic’s benefits: 23% of income recipients, against 28% in the typical town.
Swift Current: 8.2% of residents are not Canadian citizens, above 61% of Canadian towns
Immigrants by continent of birth and when they arrived, citizenship, and who moved in recently.
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 Asia (70%) or in Europe (10%). The wider picture: 5.8% of residents are not Canadian citizens across Canada’s towns. 13% of residents are immigrants, against 14% across Saskatchewan’s towns and 17% across Canada’s towns.
A higher share of Indigenous residents than 70% of Canadian towns, at 5%
Visible minority and Indigenous identity, then religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Against a figure of 35% across Canada’s towns, the share of residents with no religion in Swift Current comes in at 37%. Measured more widely, 2.8% of residents have an Indigenous identity across Canada’s towns. 14% of residents belong to a visible minority.
English is the mother tongue of 84%, and 4.5% speak French as well
English, French and the other languages people grew up with or speak at home.
Can hold a conversation in · share of all residents
Mother tongue · share of all residents
Where 7.5% of residents speak English and French across Canada’s towns, Swift Current has 4.5%. 6.2% most often speak a language other than English or French at home, and 0.3% speak neither official language. Compared with other places, residents whose mother tongue is French are scarce here: 1%, fewer than in 71% of Canadian towns.
Fewer degree holders aged 25 to 64 than 60% of Canadian towns: 23%
Highest certificate, diploma or degree of residents aged 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
No diploma or degree: 9.6% here, 9.5% in the typical town. Set beside that, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
A job for 62% of residents aged 15 and over
The census was taken in May 2021, during the pandemic, so these rates show a labour market still recovering. The census’s work rates at a glance. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
Employment runs above the middle of Canada’s towns (58%), at 62%.
The 16th oldest of 41 towns of 17,647 to 18,676 people
Similar-sized towns by median age; each dot is a town.
At one end is Schmidtville (29), at the other Oak Bay (54.4). The towns whose median age is nearest to Swift Current’s: Saint-Sulpice (40.9), Iberville (41.4), Fraser Heights (42.2) and Deux-Montagnes (42.4).
Nearby, 3 of 4 towns have older populations than Swift Current
The closest towns, coloured by how old their residents are. Swift Current has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 9–117 km out.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swift Current | 18,154 | — | 42 | 22% | 13% |
| Swift Current No. 137 | 2,089 | 8.6 km | 43.2 | 17% | 1.8% |
| Shaunavon | 1,939 | 83.7 km | 43.6 | 23% | 5.2% |
| Gravelbourg | 1,047 | 99.7 km | 47.2 | 28% | 12% |
| Eston | 1,005 | 117.2 km | 41.2 | 24% | 3.7% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What these tables don’t give. Missing from the census as published: unpaid care, cars and internet access, and the shift in each age band since 2016. Ethnic origins past 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.
- 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.
Questions about Swift Current’s residents
How diverse is Swift Current?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 17% are immigrants; here, 13%. A visible minority makes up 14% and Indigenous residents 5%.
What religion are people in Swift Current?
Most often Christian (60%) or no religion (37%); other religions make up 2.9%.
Is Swift Current good for families?
Children under 15 are 17% of residents, against 16% across Canada’s towns. Couple families make up 53% of households and one-parent families 6.9%. Schools near Swift Current are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Swift Current?
Median total household income in Swift Current was $78,000 in 2020, against a median of $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Swift Current?
The latest figure is an estimate: 18,154 residents in July 2025. At the 2021 Census, Swift Current counted 16,750, about the same as 2016.
What is the average age in Swift Current?
Half the residents are older than 42 and half younger, younger than 51% of Canadian towns; 17% are children under 15 and 22% are 65 or over.
Is Swift Current bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 4.5% are. Another 0% speak only French and 95% only English, and French is the first language of 1%.
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).