millennials toronto

Millennials now outnumber boomers in Toronto so grab that avocado toast

Toronto boomers should probably stop whining about our social media habits and inability to purchase property, because, according to the latest data, they're now outnumbered by millennials. The generation everyone loves to hate on.

Well, we did it, Toronto. Millennials are now the most populous age demographic in Canada's most populous city, revealed in new 2021 census data from Statistics Canada.

There are 704,550 people aged 25 to 39 years old and probably checking their smartphone notifications right now in Toronto, representing over 25 per cent of the city's total population of 2,794,355.

That's almost three-quarters of a million who, like me, communicate primarily in emoji. It's got to translate to a lot of participation trophies.

Millennials now beat out the 622,775 Toronto residents between the ages of 55 to 74, those likely to identify as boomers who left us 80s and 90s kids a broken housing market and complain that we don't own 20 properties yet.

There has also been a declining number in Toronto's over 65 demographic, with now just 476,985 in the city saying things like "back in my day" and sipping on Metamucil.

Our complaint-heavy, mentally exhausted demographic (and I'm allowed to say that as a tired thirty-something) seems to gravitate more toward the hustle and bustle of urban centres.

Millennials now account for over 35 per cent of the combined downtown population of major Canadian urban centres, compared to less than 21 per cent for boomers.

This number shoots up to 40.5 per cent for downtown Toronto, a city known to attract young talent from elsewhere in the country.

So move over, soup-sellers, because the avocado toast eaters have taken over — and we are almost certainly going to hold up the line to ask you if there's gluten or dairy in that item that is literally called "milk bread."

Lead photo by

Dominic Bugatto


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