Population

Population by Age and Sex

Key Messages
Average Age in Simcoe County
Average Age in District of Muskoka
Age Comparison
Gender Ratio
Population Projections
Dynamic Population Pyramids

Key Messages

In 2021, the population of Simcoe Muskoka was older than Ontario’s overall population. This is reflected in both the median age and average (mean) age. The District of Muskoka had an older population (median age: 52.8 years, average age: 48.3 years) compared to Simcoe County (median age: 43.2 years, average age: 42.6 years) and Ontario (median age: 41.6 years and average age: 41.8 years).
By 2046, the population aged 75 years and older in Simcoe Muskoka is expected to increase by 152%, from 52,981 people in 2021 to 133,330 in 2046.
There is a higher proportion of women+ over 85 years of age (1.5%) than men+ (1.0%). All other age groups show an even proportion between women+ and men+.

Average Age in Simcoe County

Wasaga Beach had the highest average age of all Census subdivisions in Simcoe County, at 50.4 years. Beausoleil First Nation had the lowest average age at 34.8 years.

AverageAgeSimcoe1

AverageAgeSimcoe2

Average Age in District of Muskoka

The Census subdivision with the highest average age in the District of Muskoka was Georgian Bay with 52.4 years and the Census subdivision with the lowest average age was Moose Deer Point with 34.2 years.
Moose Deer Point (34.2 years) was the only Census subdivision in the District of Muskoka below the provincial average (41.8 years).

AverageAgeMuskoka

Age Comparison

Compared to Ontario, larger percentage of the population in Simcoe County and the District of Muskoka were over 65 years of age, and a smaller percentage were between the ages of 15-64 years.
The District of Muskoka had a smaller proportion of their population between the ages of 0 to 14 and a larger proportion aged 65 years and over compared to both Simcoe County and Ontario.
Simcoe County and, particularly, the District of Muskoka had an older population than Ontario in 2021.

AgeGroupsSimcoeMuskoka

Gender Ratio

The population pyramid chart below depicts the age and gender distribution of the populations of Simcoe Muskoka and Ontario for the year 2021; Simcoe Muskoka is depicted using coloured bars, and Ontario is depicted by solid coloured lines:

The overall gender ratio in Simcoe Muskoka is 98 men+ for every 100 women+. This compares with 96 men+ for every 100 women+ in Ontario.
The age distribution is similar to Ontario. Most age groups are within 0.25% of a difference between Simcoe Muskoka and Ontario.
The age groups between 15 to 39 years have smaller proportion percentages in Simcoe Muskoka (29%) than in Ontario (32%), meaning Simcoe Muskoka does not have as young of a population as Ontario on average. Conversely, Simcoe Muskoka has larger proportion percentages in the age range 55 to 74 (28%) compared to Ontario (25%).
There is a higher proportion of women+ over 85 years of age (1.5%) than men+ (1.0%). All other age groups show an even proportion between women+ and men+.

PopulationDistributionPyramid

Population Projections

What is a population pyramid?

It is a chart that gives information about the proportion of males and females in a given age group.
When we look at the changes in the population pyramid of a location over time, a story emerges about the past, present and future of the population in that location.

The population pyramid chart below shows the age and sex distribution of the population of Simcoe Muskoka in 2021 and 2046. 2021 is depicted using coloured bars, and 2046 is depicted by solid coloured lines.

The largest population decreases are expected to occur among those 20 to 39 years of age, and 55 to 74 years of age.
The most striking difference is among seniors 75 years and older; in 2021, this population accounted for 9% (or 52,981) of the total population, this age group is expected to increase to 16% (or 133,330) of the total population in 2046.
Overall, it can be said that Simcoe Muskoka has an aging population.

PopulationProjectionsPyramid

Dynamic Population Pyramids

Watch how the population in Simcoe Muskoka changes from 2006 to 2046! We are moving from a population dominated by working age (15-59 years) adults in 2006, to an aging population by 2046.

The story for Simcoe Muskoka presented here starts in 2006 with a beehive shaped pyramid. This tells us that there were low birth rates and that there was a large population who were of working age (15-59 years old). We see there are bars of equal length on both sides of the pyramid; this indicates that the sex ratio is balanced among males and females.

Watch as the Simcoe Muskoka population pyramid changes from being wide in the middle in 2006 to increasingly top heavy by 2046—this indicates that we live in an aging society. Also by 2046, the pyramid shape changes to resemble a rectangle. This indicates that there is roughly an equal amount of children, working age, and seniors within Simcoe Muskoka. Where that rectangle continues to the top of the chart this means that life-expectancy is high and the death rate low. Similar to 2006, the bars continue to be of similar lengths on both sides of the pyramid, however, there is a noticeable difference between males (2.4%) and females (3.4%) 85 years of age and older.

Overall, the story for Simcoe Muskoka is that we live in an aging population.

Technical Notes

In 2021, the Census included a question on gender for the first time, rather than solely sex. The sex variable in census years prior to 2021 and the two-category gender variable in the 2021 Census are included together in this analysis. Although sex and gender refer to two different concepts, the introduction of gender is not expected to have a significant impact on data analysis and historical comparability, given the small size of the transgender and non-binary populations (Statistics Canada, 2022).

Given that the non-binary population is small, data aggregation to a two-category gender variable is sometimes necessary to protect the confidentiality of responses provided. In these cases, people in the category “non-binary persons” are distributed in the other two gender categories and are denoted by the “+” symbol as women+ or men+ (Statistics Canada, 2022).

Although the Census has started to report on gender instead of sex, the Population Projections and Population Estimates included within some of the above analyses are still based on sex.

Census subdivision (CSD) generally refers to municipalities (e.g. Clearview Township) as well as areas considered equivalent to municipalities for reporting census data, such as First Nations reserves (e.g. Chippewas of Rama First Nation).

Statistics Canada uses the names Moose Point 79 and Christian Island 30 and 30A to describe the geographic area of two local First Nation communities, however, we will refer to these communities by their commonly known names, Moose Deer Point and Beausoleil First Nation, respectively. These names are what most local Indigenous groups or individuals use and what we expect our readers will understand while accessing HealthSTATS.

Census data for Wahta Mohawk Territory is not available.