Hamilton, Canada Population

Hamilton is a city of just over 500,000 people located in the province of Ontario in Canada. It’s metropolitan area, which includes the towns of Burlington and Grimsby, has a total population of just over 760,000 people. The metropolitan area is listed as one of the ten largest in Canada. Located in southern Ontario, Hamilton was incorporated in 1846 and is the third largest metropolitan area in Ontario.

It is home to McMaster University, Mohawk College, the Royal Botanical Gardens, and the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum. The city was named after George Hamilton and is considered the waterfall capital of the world, with over 130 waterfalls.

A steadily growing population

Since 2019, Hamilton’s population has increased by 0.52%. This is a similar increase to what the city has seen for the past three years. Hamilton’s steady population growth is reflective of the growth of many Canadian cities. Since 1950, Hamilton has grown from a population of 263,000 people, to its current population of 767,000. If the city’s growth rate continues, it’s estimated that the population will reach 864,000 people by 2035.

A highly industrialized area

The Toronto-Hamilton region is Ontario’s most industrialized area. The area from Oshawa, around the west end of Lake Ontario to Niagara Falls—with Hamilton at its center—is referred to as the Golden Horseshoe. Named this way for how the area encompasses a ‘golden horseshoe’ or curved center of industrialized power for the Ontario region, Hamilton’s economy still relies heavily on manufacturing.

Sixty percent of the Canada’s steel is produced in Hamilton and the city is known as the Steel Capital of Canada. The changing face of manufacturing has meant that Hamilton position has sometimes become precarious. One of the major producers—Stelco—has both flirted with bankruptcy, gone back to profitability, and finally declared bankruptcy again after being acquired by the United States Steel Corporation.

A sanctuary city

In 2014, Hamilton’s city council voted for the city to become a sanctuary city—offering municipal services to undocumented immigrants at risk of deportation. As of 2016, almost 25% of the city’s population was foreign-born and the population of people not born in Canada and living in Hamilton grew by 7.7%, while the city’s overall population grew by 4.3%. Between 2001 and 2016, almost 40,000 immigrants moved to the city.

A strong French community

Hamilton has a notable French community, with two school boards that operate five schools, as well as French cultural center, three daycares, a Franco-Ontarian health center, and a provincially funded employment center. Provincial services are offered in French and in English in Hamilton, to accommodate the 6,700 Francophone Canadians living in the city, and the 30,530 residents that speak both of the country’s official languages.

Demographics of Hamilton

The city is gradually growing older, with Hamiltonians aged 65 and older making up 17.3% of the population—an increase of 2.4% since 2011. In turn, the number of Hamiltonians less than 14 years of age has decreased by 1.57%. The city’s current average age is about 41 years old. More than half the city’s residents are married, with 0.08% of married partners identifying as being in a same-sex marriage. 6.4% of the city’s residents are divorced.

Christianity is the largest religion in the area, with just over 67% of the population identifying as being Christian. However, the number of other religions brought by immigrants is also on the rise. Other religions with significant populations include Islam—with 3.7% of the population—Buddhism, Sikhism, Hinduism, and Judaism. The number of people with no religious affiliation has continued to increase (like it has in many parts of Canada). Currently, 24% of the Hamilton’s residents identify as having no religious beliefs or connections.