Niagara-on-the-Lake’s population in 2024 is estimated at 20,863, according to Statistics Canada’s 2021 census data, together with estimates from the province and Niagara Region, the researchers say.
Of that, 53 per cent (11,028) are 55 and over, while 16 per cent (3,398) are 75 and up.
By 2041, the town’s population is expected to grow 24 per cent to 25,850 and those 75-plus are projected to comprise almost one-quarter of the population, at 5,887.
The census shows 79 per cent of NOTLers live in single-detached homes, but 70 per cent of those homes have no more than two people in them. And three-quarters of them have three bedrooms.
In addition, the primary maintainer is 55-plus in 73 per cent of households, and more than half are over 65.
Those numbers highlight some potential problems.
The data, all contained in the report by researchers Michael Ennamorato and Stephen Ferley, “suggests that the existing housing stock may not be sufficiently diverse or adequately serviced to address the increasing wave of age-related needs” expected to wash over NOTL.
Their report analyzes those issues and shines a light on some of the potential solutions.