Thunder Bay - Population and Demographics

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

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