Ottawa vs Gatineau: Population & Income Compared

Ottawa and Gatineau form one of Canada's most integrated cross-provincial urban regions. Census subdivision figures for 2021 separate the Ontario and Quebec sides of the National Capital Region. Here is a clear head-to-head.

Population & growth

Ottawa counted 1,017,449 residents in 2021, compared with Gatineau at 291,041. Size, however, is not the same as momentum. Ottawa's population rose 8.9% from 2016 to 2021, while Gatineau grew 5.4% over the same period.

In short: Ottawa remains more than twice as large; Ottawa added people faster from 2016 to 2021.

Income

Median after-tax household income tells another part of the story. Ottawa households sat at $88,000 (median after tax), versus $69,500 in Gatineau. That gap matters for cost-of-living and labour-market conversations across the two cities.

Age profile

Average age was 40.7 years in Ottawa and 40.3 in Gatineau. Gatineau's younger profile contrasts with Ottawa in this census snapshot.

Quick comparison table

• Population (2021): Ottawa 1,017,449 · Gatineau 291,041
• Growth 2016–2021: Ottawa 8.9% · Gatineau 5.4%
• Median HH income (after tax): Ottawa $88,000 · Gatineau $69,500
• Average age: Ottawa 40.7 · Gatineau 40.3

Ottawa dominates on population, growth, and median household income; Gatineau is smaller with a similar average age — a classic capital-region scale gap in the 2021 data.

Explore the full datasets

Dig into every section (households, labour, languages, dwellings) on the location profiles, or build your own side-by-side:

• Ottawa demographic profile
• Gatineau demographic profile
• Location Comparison tool — select Census subdivision, then Ottawa and Gatineau