Population and Demographics
| Selected Ethnic Origins, 2006 |
|
|---|---|
| Ethnic origin | Population |
| English | 34,360 |
| Scottish | 26,400 |
| Canadian | 24,650 |
| Irish | 22,260 |
| French | 21,165 |
| Ukrainian | 17,620 |
| Italian | 17,290 |
| Finnish | 14,510 |
| German | 13,090 |
| Aboriginal | 11,870 |
| Polish | 8,595 |
| Swedish | 5,580 |
| Visible minorities | 3,175 |
| multiple responses included | |
| City of Thunder Bay | |
|---|---|
| Population by year | |
| 1911 | 27,719 |
| 1921 | 35,427 |
| 1931 | 46,095 |
| 1941 | 55,011 |
| 1951 | 66,108 |
| 1956 | 77,600 |
| 1961 | 92,490 |
| 1966 | 104,539 |
| 1971 | 108,411 |
| 1976 | 111,476 |
| 1981 | 112,486 |
| 1986 | 112,272 |
| 1991 | 113,946 |
| 1996 | 113,662 |
| 2001 | 109,016 |
| 2006 | 109,140 |
| 2011 | 108,359 |
According to the 2006 Census, there were 109,140 people residing in Thunder Bay on 16 May 2006, of whom 48.4% were male and 51.6% were female. Residents 19 years of age or younger accounted for approximately 22.9% of the population. People aged by 20 and 39 years accounted for 24.6%, while those between 40 and 64 made up 35.9% of the population. The average age of a Thunder Bayer in May 2006 was 41.7, compared to the average of 39.5 for Canada as a whole.
Between the censuses of 2001 and 2006, Thunder Bay's population increased by 0.1%, compared to the average of 6.6% for Ontario and 5.4% for Canada. The population density of the city of Thunder Bay averaged 332.3 people per square kilometre, compared with an average of 13.4 for Ontario. The total population has been stagnant or declining since amalgamation in 1970.
A further 13,767 people live in Thunder Bay's Census Metropolitan Area, which apart from Thunder Bay includes the municipalities of Neebing and Oliver Paipoonge, the townships of Conmee, Gillies, O'Connor and Shuniah, and the aboriginal community of Fort William First Nation.
- Ethnicity
Thunder Bay is home to 12,825 people of Finnish descent, the highest concentration of persons of Finnish origin per capita in Canada, and the second largest Finnish population in Canada after Toronto which has 14,750 persons of Finnish origin.
- Language
In terms of Canada's official languages, 81.6% of Thunder Bayers speak only English, and 2.6% speak only French. Thunder Bay has one of the largest established communities of Finnish speaking people outside of Finland. Other languages spoken in Thunder Bay include Italian and Ojibwe.
- Religion
The 2001 census states that 82.0 per cent of Thunder Bay residents belong to a Christian denomination, 39.8% of which are Roman Catholic, 39.5% Protestant, and 2.6% other following Christian denominations, mostly Eastern Orthodox. Those who follow other religions make up less than 1% of the population, while the remaining 17.0% are non-religious.
| Canada 2006 Census | Population | % of total population | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Visible minority group |
South Asian | 380 | 0.3 |
| Chinese | 880 | 0.8 | |
| Black | 435 | 0.4 | |
| Filipino | 250 | 0.2 | |
| Latin American | 165 | 0.1 | |
| Southeast Asian | 375 | 0.3 | |
| Other visible minority | 690 | 0.6 | |
| Total visible minority population | 3,175 | 3 | |
| Aboriginal group |
First Nations | 6,455 | 6 |
| Métis | 2,165 | 2 | |
| Inuit | 40 | 0 | |
| Total Aboriginal population | 8,845 | 8.2 | |
| White | 95,270 | 88.8 | |
| Total population | 107,290 | 100 | |
Read more about this topic: Thunder Bay
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