Community Profile | Tay Valley Township

Location

Set in the southwest corner of Lanark County due west of Perth, Tay Valley Township is comprised of several small communities joined by a shared heritage and a love for the rural lifestyle.

Located in eastern Ontario, Tay Valley Township covers 554 square kilometers. Ottawa is just over 80 kilometers to the northeast and Peterborough is 98 kilometers to the west. Kingston and the USA border are 70 kilometers to the south.

Driving Directions

Tay Valley Township incorporates the rich history of three former townships, Bathurst, Burgess and South Sherbrooke, all of whom combined to make the Township we have today.

Driving Directions

History and Historic Sites

Whether you are a visitor or resident of the area, you will find it is a Welcome Change of Pace .

History and Historic Sites

Demographics

Population

POPULATION
	Population
	2021	2016	change	% change
Both genders
Total	5,925	5,665	260	4.6
0 to 14	680	640	40	6.25
15 to 64	3,345	3,465	-120	-3.46
65 and over	1,900	1,560	340	21.1
Males
Total	3,000	2,815	185	6.6
0 to 14	355	340	15	4.4
15 to 64	1,685	1,720	35	2
65 and over	960	760	200	26.3
Females
Total	2,925	2,845	80	2.8
0 to 14	320	305	15	4.9
15 to 64	1,660	1,745	-85	-4.9
65 and over	945	795	150	18.9

Source: Statistics Canada, 2023 Census of Population

Source: Statistics Canada, 2017 Census of Population

Age Characteristics

AGE CHARACTERISTICS - 2021
Age groups	Both sexes	Males	Females
Total - Age groups	5,925	3,000	2,925
0 to 4 years	215	95	115
5 to 9 years	210	115	95
10 to 14 years	255	140	115
15 to 19 years	255	130	125
20 to 24 years	205	115	95
25 to 29 years	220	110	105
30 to 34 years	245	120	120
35 to 39 years	265	135	130
40 to 44 years	225	110	110
45 to 49 years	265	125	135
50 to 54 years	380	190	185
55 to 59 years	605	290	320
60 to 64 years	695	355	335
65 to 69 years	640	340	300
70 to 74 years	495	245	250
75 to 79 years	300	165	135
80 to 84 years	190	90	100
85 years and over	265	110	155
Median age	57.2	57.2	57.2

Source: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population

Age Distribution

AGE DISTRIBUTION - 2021
Age groups	Both sexes	Males	Females
0 to 14	11.3%	12.1%	10.7%
15 to 64	61.2%	61.1%	61.3%
65 and over	27.5%	27%	27.9%

Source: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population

Marital Status

LEGAL MARITAL STATUS
	Population	Percentage
Population 15 years and up	5,245
Married or living with a Common-Law Partner	3,585	68.4%
Married	3,035	57.9%
Living with a Common-Law Partner	550	10.5%
Not married and not living with a Common-Law Partner	1,660	31.6%
Single	885	16.9%
Separated	125	2.4%
Divorced	340	6.5%
Widowed	310	5.9%

Source: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population

Family Characteristics

SELECTED FAMILY CHARACTERISTICS - 2021
	Population	Percentage
Total Number of Families:	1,890
Number of Married-Couple Families:	1,455	78.8%
Married couples with Children*:	505
Married Couples without Children*:	955
Number of Common-Law-Couple Families:	275	11.8%
Common-Law-Couples with Children*:	95
Common-Law-Couples without Children*:	185
Number of Lone-Parent Families:	155	8.8%
*Children aged 24 and under at home

Source: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population

Language

LANGUAGE
Selected languages	Mother tongue		Language spoken most often at home
Selected languages	number	%	number	%
Total	5,670	100.0	5,670	100.0
English	5,310	93.6	5,470	96.4
French	80	1.4	25	0.4
Non-official language	160	2.8	10	0.2
Multiple responses	55	0.98	30	0.5

Source: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population

Household Characteristics

OCCUPIED DWELLINGS

Year	Occupied Dwellings	% Change
2016	2255	+8.15
2021	2419	+14.6

AVERAGE HOUSEHOLD SIZE

Year	Average Household Size
2016	2.4
2021	2.3

Source: 2014 Official Plan Background Study

Workforce Profile

Major Employers of Tay Valley Township

Larger employers in the Township include OMYA, Lanark Lodge, Glen Tay School and Murphy’s Point Provincial Park, etc. Agriculture continues to play an important role in the township’s economy and rural landscape.

Employment Breakdown - Tay Valley Township

EMPLOYMENT BREAKDOWN FOR THE PERIOD OF 2016-2021
Description	2016	2021	Absolute Change	% Change
Professional, scientific and technical services	155	190	35	22.6
Health care and Social Assistance	345	350	5	1.4
Public Administration	120	170	50	42
Real Estate and Rental and Leasing	40	45	5	12
Administrative and Support, Waste Management and Remediation Services	90	105	15	17
Other Services (except public administration)	180	130	-50	-28
Unclassified	25	60	35	140
Arts, Entertainment and Recreation	70	45	-25	-36
Retail Trade	280	290	10	3.4
Accommodation and Food Services	195	125	-70	-56
Educational Services	190	120	-70	-58
Utilities	35	20	-15	-43
Finance and Insurance	80	75	-5	-6
Management of Companies and Enterprises	0	0	0	0
Construction	395	335	- 60	-15
Wholesale Trade	50	55	5	10
Manufacturing	205	235	30	15
Transportation and Warehousing	140	90	-50	-36
Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing, and Hunting	145	120	- 25	-17
Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction	45	40	- 5	-11
Information and Cultural Industries	25	40	15	60
Total	2810	2640	-170	-6

Source: Statistics Canada, 2021

Occupational Categories - Tay Valley Township

OCCUPATIONAL CATEGORIES
Occupation	Total	Percentage
Management Occupations	70	3%
Occupations Unique to Primary Industry	155	6%
Business: Finance and Administration Occupations	380	15%
Occupations unique to Processing: Manufacturing and Utilities	210	8%
Trades: Transport and Equipment Operators and related Occupations	535	20%
Natural and Applied Sciences and related Occupations	145	6%
Sales and Service Occupations	565	22%
Occupations in Social Science, Education, Government Service and Religion	270	10%

Source: City-Data, Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population

Industry Categories - Tay Valley Township

INDUSTRY CATEGORIES
Industry	Total	Percentage
Manufacturing	235	9%
Construction	335	13%
Health care and Social Services	350	13%
Agriculture and other Resource-based industries	120	5%
Retail Trades	290	11%
Educational Services	120	5%
Business Services	395	15%
Other Services	530	20%
Other	190	7%

Source: City-Data, Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population

Labour Force Activity - Tay Valley Township

LABOUR FORCE ACTIVITY
Labour type	Total	Percentage
Not in Labour Force	2,295	57%
Unemployed	290	6%
Employed	2,350	48%

Source: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population

Lanark County Labour Statistics

LABOUR FORCE STATUS

	Total	Male	Female
Total population aged 15 years and over	62,905	30,640	32,265
In the labour force	37,160	19,330	17,830
Employed	34,015	17,805	16,210
Unemployed	3,145	1,520	1,620
Not in the labour force	25,750	11,310	14,435
Participation rate	59.1	63.1	55.3
Employment rate	54.1	58.1	50.2
Unemployment rate	8.5	7.9	9.1

Source: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population.

Occupation - Lanark County

OCCUPATION

	Total	Male	Female
Total labour force population aged 15 years and over by occupation - National Occupational Classification (NOC) 2021	37,155	19,325	17,830
Occupation - not applicable	615	325	285
All occupations	36,545	19,005	17,540
0 Management occupations	465	270	200
1 Business, finance and administration occupations	5,850	1,525	4,320
2 Natural and applied sciences and related occupations	2,905	2,240	665
3 Health occupations	2,915	450	2,465
4 Occupations in education, law and social, community and government services	4,400	1,480	2,915
5 Occupations in art, culture, recreation and sport	970	350	620
6 Sales and service occupations	8,505	3,645	4,865
7 Trades, transport and equipment operators and related occupations	7,665	6,980	685
8 Natural resources, agriculture and related production occupations	1,280	975	315
9 Occupations in manufacturing and utilities	1,590	1,085	505

Source: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population

Industry - Lanark County

INDUSTRY

	Total	Male	Female
Total labour force population aged 15 years and over by industry - North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) 2007	37,155	19,325	17,830
Industry - not applicable	615	325	285
All industries	36,545	19,005	17,540
11 Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting	895	570	320
21 Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction	180	165	20
22 Utilities	335	275	60
23 Construction	4,620	4,035	585
31-33 Manufacturing	2,650	1,705	945
41 Wholesale trade	905	655	255
44-45 Retail trade	4,415	2,195	2,220
48-49 Transportation and warehousing	1,225	835	395
51 Information and cultural industries	600	375	225
52 Finance and insurance	895	315	580
53 Real estate and rental and leasing	520	270	250
54 Professional, scientific and technical services	2,700	1,390	1,310
55 Management of companies and enterprises	70	35	35
56 Administrative and support, waste management and remediation services	1,610	980	630
61 Educational services	2,095	615	1,480
62 Health care and social assistance	4,875	695	4,180
71 Arts, entertainment and recreation	720	355	335
72 Accommodation and food services	1,870	775	1,090
81 Other services (except public administration)	1,685	820	865
91 Public administration	3,700	1,940	1,760

Source: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population

Place of Work Status

PLACE OF WORK STATUS

	Total	Male	Female
Total employed population aged 15 years and over by place of work status	34,015	17,805	16,205
Worked at home	8,725	3,845	4,880
Worked outside Canada	50	35	10
No fixed workplace address	4,995	4,050	940
Worked at usual place	20,250	9,880	10,370

Source: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population

Economic Profile

Growth

Year	Permanent Residential	Seasonal Residential	Total	Non-Farm Residential	Total
RESIDENTIAL BUILDING PERMIT AND CONSENTS GRANTED
Building Permits Issued				Consents Granted
2018	20	1	21	22	22
2019	19	6	25	20	20
2020	19	5	24	15	15
2021	60	12	72	37	37
2022	33	2	35	28	28
2023	26	3	29	27	27
2024	12	2	14	21	21
2025	26	6	32	12	12
Total			349		250
10-yr mean			28		23.8
5-yr mean			22.2		18

Year	Commercial	Industrial	Institutional	Agricultural	Commercial / Industrial
COMMERCIAL, INDUSTRIAL AND INSTITUTIONAL CONSTRUCTION (ft2) AND CONSENTS
Building Permits Issued			Consents Granted
2016	0	0	0	0	0
2017	0	0	33,788	0	0
2018	0	0	0	0	0
2019	0	0	7,945	0	0
2020	400	10,112	1,056	0	0
2021	192	360	0	0	0
2022	9,458	14,403	0	0	0
2023	0	707	106,080	0	0
2024	6,784	0	0	0	0
2025	0	0	9,548	0	0

Income

TAY VALLEY TOWNSHIP: AVERAGE FAMILY INCOME IN 2021

	Income
All Census Families	107,000
Married Couple Families	96,000
Lone Parent Families	68,500

LANARK COUNTY: INCOME OF INDIVIDUALS IN 2021

	Total	Male	Female
Total income in 2021 of population aged 15 years and over	62,905	30,640	32,270
Without income	1,540	800	745
With income	61,360	29,840	31,525
Under $5,000	6,545	3,155	3,390
$5,000 to $9,999	3,095	1,240	1,860
$10,000 to $19,999	4,570	2,010	2,560
$20,000 to $29,999	3,780	1,705	2,080
$30,000 to $39,999	3,780	1,810	1,975
$40,000 to $49,999	3,725	1,790	1,930
$50,000 to $59,999	3,345	1,680	1,660
$60,000 to $79,999	3,020	1,595	1,430
$80,000 to $99,999	1,945	1,200	745
$100,000 and over	4,585	3,170	1,410
$100,000 to $124,999	2,440	1,540	900
$125,000 and over	2,145	1,630	510
Median income	64,500	69,500	59,200
Average income	71,600	77,300	64,300

Bibliography:

Statistics Canada. 2017. Tay Valley, TP [Census subdivision], Ontario and Ontario [Province] (table). Census Profile. 2016 Census. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-316-X2016001. Ottawa. Released November 29, 2017. (Accessed March 27, 2026)

Statistics Canada. 2023. (table). Census Profile. 2021 Census of Population. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-316-X2021001. Ottawa. Released November 15, 2023. (Accessed March 27, 2026)