Wasaga Beach · 1996 → today
A town of
2001
Scroll. Watch the town grow in real time — twenty years of census counts in a few seconds.
In one generation
The town doubled.
Every dot below is about one hundred residents. The navy dots are Wasaga in 2001. The gold dots are everyone who arrived since.
Source: Statistics Canada, 1996–2021 Census of Population, Wasaga Beach Town (CSD). Each dot ≈ 100 residents; grid rounds to nearest 100.
Pace
Wasaga out-grew Ontario four to one.
Every five years the census takes the town's pulse. Since 2001, Wasaga's pulse has hammered — and the two pale bars on the right are what comes next if the trend holds.
30,000+ Projected 2026 census count. Ontario 2016–2021 growth: +5.8%. Wasaga: +20.3%.
| Year | Population | Change vs. previous census |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 12,419 | +42.8% |
| 2006 | 15,234 | +22.7% |
| 2011 | 17,537 | +15.1% |
| 2016 | 20,675 | +17.9% |
| 2021 | 24,862 | +20.3% |
| 2026 (projected) | 29,910 | +20.3% |
| 2031 (projected) | 35,990 | +20.3% |
Growth means pressure
Roads don't double on their own.
The town's pulse doubled. The roads, bridges, sidewalks, and water mains carrying everyday life are the same ones from 2001 — plus whatever's been patched. Add nearly 3,000 seasonal and non-resident dwellings that swell usage every summer, and you have twenty years of growth running on infrastructure that hasn't kept up.
Wasaga Beach added 12,443 year-round residents between 2001 and 2021, plus 2,957 dwellings not occupied by a usual resident on census night.
A master plan for Beach Area 1 is the right move. Wasaga's families deserve the same plan for the streets, sidewalks, and water mains they use every day of the year — not just the weeks the tourists are here.
Who lives here
One in three residents is over 65.
Wasaga's median age is 56.4 — nearly fifteen years older than Ontario's. Housing that fits this town has to fit seniors aging in place. Transit that works has to work for people who can't drive at night. Accessibility isn't a nice-to-have; it's the baseline.
Source: Statistics Canada 2021 Census Profile, Wasaga Beach CSD. 7,415 residents aged 65+ out of 22,190 in age-tabulated bucket.
What this means
Wasaga needs a plan for Wasaga.
The population doubled. The dwellings doubled. The median age climbed fifteen years. And the next census will put us past 30,000 — north of 36,000 by 2031.
Beach Area 1 matters, and I support a real master plan there. But a town this size needs the same rigor applied to all of it — roads, bridges, sidewalks, water mains, transit for seniors, housing that fits. Coordinated. Not one block at a time.
I'm running because a plan for one beach isn't a plan for the whole town.
Sources & method
Every number on this page is sourced from Statistics Canada's 2021 Census of Population, with population history cross-referenced against public census releases back to 1996. The 2025 figure is a Statistics Canada intercensal estimate, not a census count. If you spot an error, email [email protected].