In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the RCM of Papineau had a population of 24,308 living in 11,504 of its 16,059 total private dwellings, a change of 6.5% from its 2016 population of 22,832. With a land area of 2,903.45 km2 (1,121.03 sq mi), it had a population density of 8.4/km2 (21.7/sq mi) in 2021.[4]
In 2021, the median age was 54.0, as opposed to 41.6 for all of Canada. French was the mother tongue of 91.2% of residents in 2021. The next most common mother tongues are English at 5.5% total, followed by Spanish and German at 0.2% each and by Portuguese at 0.1%. 1.9% reported both English and French as their first language. Additionally there were 0.1% who reported both French and a non-official language as their mother tongue and another 0.1% who reported both French, English and a non-official language as their mother tongue.
As of 2021, Indigenous peoples comprised 4.4% of the population, and visible minorities contributed 1.1%. The largest visible minority groups in the RCM of Papineau are Black (0.4%), Chinese (0.1%), and Arab (0.1%).
In 2021, 65.2% of the population identified as Catholic, while 26.1% said they had no religious affiliation. Baptists were the largest religious minority, making up 0.6% of the population. Buddhists were the largest non-Christian religious minority, making up just over 0.1% of the population.
