Who are we? Census 2021 Explains
The final piece of the 2021 Census was released last December providing citizenship and immigration, education and employment data.
While our township website describes the local population as diverse, this is just beginning to be true, according to the statistics. More than three quarters of our residents have lived in Canada for at least three generations. Fifty seven percent of our immigrants arrived from Europe; 22% from Asia at 22% and 15% from the Americas. Fewer than 5% of our population has a mother tongue that is neither English nor French.
The Census also explored religious affiliation. Unsurprisingly, the most common identified religious affiliation was Christian, at 54% of the population. More than 44% reported no religious or secular perspectives.
Eighty-two percent of the population reported having a high school diploma or its equivalent. More than half of us have some post-secondary certification, twelve percent with some level of university degree. Engineering and architecture topped the subject material, which was dominated by males (94%), followed by health, businesses and social sciences.
Our labour participation rate is 64.1%, which is 1.3% below the national average. Our overall unemployment rate was reported as 9.2%, considerably higher than the 7.3% national unemployment rate at the time.
Who cares, you might ask. The statistical portrait of our neighbourhoods is used to establish electoral boundaries, inter-governmental transfer payments and social service requirements. Workforce details help business make investment decisions that result in job creation. Good reasons, all of them. KG
