Toronto had an estimated 3,358,275 residents in 2026. In the same census, 46.6 percent of residents were immigrants, 55.7 percent belonged to a visible minority group, and 42.5 percent reported a mother tongue other than English or French. These figures describe the City of Toronto inside its municipal boundaries. The metropolitan area and the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) are much larger.
Population by census year, 1996 to 2021
Statistics Canada counts the population every five years. The table gives the census counts published for the City of Toronto. They are raw census counts and are not adjusted for undercoverage.
| Census year | Population of the City of Toronto | Change from previous census |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 2,385,421 | +4.8% (from 2,275,771 in 1991) |
| 2001 | 2,481,494 | +4.0% |
| 2006 | 2,503,281 | +0.9% |
| 2011 | 2,615,060 | +4.5% |
| 2016 | 2,731,571 | +4.5% (116,511 people) |
| 2021 | 2,794,356 | +2.3% (62,785 people) |
| 2026 | 3,358,275 | Estimate; World Population Review |
Between the 1996 and 2021 censuses the count rose by 408,935 people, or about 17 percent. Growth was close to flat between 2001 and 2006, when the increase was only 21,787 people, and then recovered. The 2021 total is 7.6 percent of the population of Canada, which was 36,991,981 in that census. The counts are Statistics Canada census results as tabulated in the City of Toronto City Planning backgrounders for 2011 and 2021.
What “Toronto” means in a census table
Census tables use several geographies, and the numbers differ. The City of Toronto is a single census division and census subdivision. The GTHA, as defined in the City’s backgrounder, includes Toronto, Durham, York, Peel, Halton, and Hamilton, and had 7,281,694 residents in 2021. The city held 38.4 percent of that total, down from 39.3 percent in 2016 and 44.5 percent in 2001. A figure such as “over six million” therefore refers to a metropolitan or regional area, not to the city. The boundaries question is covered in the article on where Toronto is and what counts as Toronto.
Immigrants and citizenship in 2021
The 2021 Census counted 1,286,140 immigrants in Toronto, or 46.6 percent of the population. Across Canada the immigrant share was 23.0 percent. Another 47.1 percent of Torontonians were born in Canada. The City’s backgrounder on the Statistics Canada release of October 26, 2022, adds several details:
- 477,230 residents, or 17.3 percent, were not Canadian citizens, and the share of citizens fell from 85.3 percent in 2016 to 82.7 percent in 2021.
- 55.7 percent of Toronto’s immigrants were born in Asia. The most common birth countries were the Philippines (10.3 percent of immigrants), China (10.1 percent), and India (7.9 percent).
- 26.6 percent of immigrants had arrived in Canada in the previous ten years.
- 52.9 percent of the population was first generation, meaning neither parent was known to have been born in Canada.
The 55.7 percent for Asian birth among immigrants is a separate measure from the visible minority share discussed below, even though the two numbers happen to match.
Visible minority groups and ethnic origin
Statistics Canada publishes “visible minority” as a defined census category, and the City of Toronto’s backgrounder describes the same group as racialized. In 2021, 1,537,285 Toronto residents, or 55.7 percent, belonged to a visible minority group, up from 51.5 percent in 2016. In Canada as a whole the share was 26.5 percent. These are the published categories of the census, built from self-reported answers to a fixed question. This article reports them as published and does not rank groups.
Ethnic origin is a different question. Respondents could name more than one origin, so the counts add up to more than the population. The ten most frequently reported origins among Torontonians in 2021 were Chinese (297,725), English (244,995), Irish (226,865), Scottish (211,175), Indian (India) (182,115), Italian (167,460), Canadian (165,640), Filipino (161,495), German (107,475), and French not otherwise specified (85,715). The census also recorded 5,870 people with solely Indigenous ancestry and 24,150 with mixed Indigenous and non-Indigenous ancestry. Origin counts are not counts of birthplace or of language.
Mother tongue and language spoken at home
Mother tongue is the first language learned at home in childhood and still understood. The 2021 Census showed 50.2 percent of Toronto residents with English as their only mother tongue and 42.5 percent with a mother tongue other than English or French, down from 43.9 percent in 2016. A further 5.4 percent reported English together with a non-official language, up from 3.4 percent in 2016.
Home language is a separate question. The City’s language backgrounder, dated August 19, 2022, reports that 25.9 percent of people in Toronto regularly spoke a language other than English or French at home, a rate similar to 2016. It also reports that 1,244,555 people, or 44.9 percent, spoke at least one non-official language at home, including 35,750 who named more than one. The two figures count different things, and the Census Dictionary of Statistics Canada defines each measure.
The backgrounder lists Mandarin, Cantonese, Tagalog, Spanish, and Tamil as the leading non-English home languages. It records a 10 percent drop in Cantonese speakers, who were the second most common group, a 21 percent rise in Tagalog speakers, and a 12 percent rise in Spanish speakers. Knowledge of official languages is also published: 4.5 percent of residents knew neither English nor French in 2021, compared with 4.9 percent in 2016 and 5.3 percent in 2011.
How to read these numbers
- Cite the census year. Counts from 2021 describe May 2021, not the present.
- Check the geography: city, census metropolitan area, or GTHA.
- Check the question. Birthplace, ethnic origin, visible minority status, mother tongue, and home language are five different questions with five different answers.
- Percentages from different censuses can shift partly because questions or classifications change. Statistics Canada documents these changes in its census reference materials.
The longer story behind these figures, from early settlement to later arrivals from many regions, is told in immigration and communities in Toronto’s history.
Frequently asked questions
What is the population of Toronto?
In 2026 the City of Toronto had an estimated 3,358,275 residents. The census is taken every five years, and the City of Toronto’s census pages carry the latest release.
How many people in Toronto were born outside Canada?
The 2021 Census counted 1,286,140 immigrants, or 46.6 percent of the city’s population. The census category “immigrant” covers people who are or have ever been landed immigrants or permanent residents, so many of them are now Canadian citizens.
What languages are spoken in Toronto?
English is the only mother tongue of just over half of residents. The leading non-English home languages in 2021 were Mandarin, Cantonese, Tagalog, Spanish, and Tamil, according to the City of Toronto’s language backgrounder.
Is Toronto’s population growing as fast as it once was?
Growth between 2016 and 2021 was 2.3 percent, below the 4.5 percent recorded between 2011 and 2016 and equal to roughly half of it.
Last verified: October 2026
Related reading
- Immigration and communities in Toronto’s history
- How Toronto’s districts grew
- Toronto slang, nicknames, and pronunciation
- An overview of Toronto’s history
- Toronto Facts: location, population, geography, and weather
Sources
- City of Toronto, City Planning, 2021 Census Backgrounder: Population and Dwelling Counts, February 11, 2022 (Statistics Canada data; Census Day May 11, 2021)
- City of Toronto, City Planning, 2021 Census Backgrounder: Language, August 19, 2022
- City of Toronto, City Planning, 2021 Census Backgrounder on immigration, ethnic origin, and visible minority groups, November 4, 2022
- City of Toronto, City Planning, 2011 Census Backgrounder: Population and Dwelling Counts, February 8, 2012 (1991 to 2011 counts)
- Statistics Canada, The Daily, Canada’s population estimates and 2021 Census counts, February 9, 2022 (Canada total 36,991,981)
- Statistics Canada, The Daily, Immigration and citizenship, October 26, 2022 (immigrants 23.0 percent of Canada)
Cite this page
APA: History of Toronto. (2026, October 23). Toronto’s Population and Languages in the Census. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/toronto-a-multilingual-city-with-diverse-spoken-languages
MLA: “Toronto’s Population and Languages in the Census.” History of Toronto, 23 Oct. 2026, https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/toronto-a-multilingual-city-with-diverse-spoken-languages. Accessed .
Chicago: History of Toronto. “Toronto’s Population and Languages in the Census.” Last modified October 23, 2026. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/toronto-a-multilingual-city-with-diverse-spoken-languages.
The pages have no named author, so the site is given as the author. Add the date you read the page if your style asks for it.