Single-Person Households and Social Isolation in Montréal

Across Canada, more people than ever are living alone. Statistics Canada notes that, for the first time, single-person households have become the most common household type in the country—a trend that is clearly visible in Montréal’s neighbourhood portraits as well.

But this shift does not happen evenly across the island. Central boroughs like Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie and Lachine, along with sectors such as Montréal-Nord, all show different profiles when it comes to how many people live alone, how fast that number is growing, and what it means for social isolation and services.

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Are more Montréalers living alone?

At the city level, Montréal already has a high share of one-person households.
According to the 2016 portraits:

• 40.8% of all private households in Montréal are single-person households.

This means that roughly 2 in 5 households across the city consist of a person living alone. Montréal is not an outlier in Canada, but it sits near the upper end of large cities where solo living is increasingly common.

The borough portraits show how this plays out locally, especially in Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie, Lachine, and Montréal-Nord.

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Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie: Nearly half of households are one person

Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie is one of Montréal’s most central and urban boroughs.
In 2016, the sociodemographic profile shows:

• 72,910 private households in total.

• 35,885 of those are single-person households.

• Single-person households therefore represent 49.2% of all households in Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie.

• The average household size is just 1.9 people.

In simple terms: almost one in two homes in Rosemont is occupied by a single person, and typical households are small.

This reflects several structural features:

• A very high share of small apartments—nearly **75% of dwellings are apartments in buildings under five storeys.】

• A large population of young adults, students, and early-career workers, many of whom delay forming families.

• Ongoing densification and gentrification, which attract professionals and creatives but raise questions about long-term affordability.

For service planning, this means Rosemont needs:

• Strong social, cultural and mental health services that do not assume people live in family units.

• Public spaces and programs that help single adults avoid isolation—from cafés and libraries to community centres and sports leagues.

• Housing policies that protect low-income singles and seniors, who are most vulnerable when they live alone.

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Lachine: A growing share of single-person households

On the western part of the island, Lachine presents a different but equally important picture.

How many people live alone in Lachine?

The Lachine portrait based on the 2016 census shows:

• 8,035 households composed of a single person, representing 40.3% of all private households in Lachine.

• City-wide, single-person households represent 40.8% of households, so Lachine is just slightly below the Montréal average.

• Those 8,035 individuals living alone account for 18.9% of all people in private households in Lachine.

There are also internal differences within the borough:

• Lachine-Est: people living alone = 20.1% of the population.

• Lachine-Ouest: people living alone = 16.6% of the population.

• Montréal (city): 19.1% of people live alone.

• Québec (province): 14.8% of people live alone.

Lachine-Est therefore has a higher than average concentration of people living alone, while Lachine-Ouest looks closer to the Québec provincial pattern.

A fast-growing phenomenon

The same document notes that:

• The share of single-person households in Lachine increased by 12.9% between 2011 and 2016, compared with only +2.9% for Montréal as a whole.

That is a very rapid shift in just five years, and it suggests that solo living is not just a static characteristic of Lachine—it’s accelerating.

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Montréal-Nord: More families, but still over one-third living alone

Montréal-Nord is often described in terms of families and youth, and the data supports that. Households are larger on average, but single-person living is still common and significant.

According to the 2016 profile:

• 35,015 private households in Montréal-Nord.

• 12,905 of them are single-person households, representing 36.8% of all households.

• The average household size is 2.3 people, larger than in Rosemont or Lachine.

So Montréal-Nord has:

• More families and children,

• But still over one-third of households are occupied by a single person.

Here, single-person households are often older adults or people in vulnerable socio-economic situations, and the risks of isolation can be amplified by poverty, mobility issues and weaker access to services.

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Montréal as a whole: One-person households as a marker of social vulnerability

The Lachine portrait is explicit: the proportion of people living alone is considered an indicator of social deprivation.

At the Montréal scale, the 2021 territorial portrait shows that:

• One-person households form a large share of all household types in the city, alongside couples with or without children and other multi-person arrangements.

In many central boroughs, living alone is associated with:

• Younger adults in small apartments, with strong social networks but precarious employment or housing;

• Older adults whose partners have died or moved into care;

• Newcomers or recent migrants who start life in Montréal in a small rental, often far from family networks.

Solo living is not automatically social isolation, but when combined with:

• Low income,

• Poor housing,

• Disability or health issues,

• and weak access to services or community spaces,

…it can translate into real isolation and mental health risks.

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Comparative snapshot: Single-person households in key Montréal areas

Here’s a simple comparative table that you can use directly in the article.

Rosemont emerges as a high-density, highly urban single-person hub, while Lachine and Montréal-Nord have slightly lower shares of solo households but still substantial, with different age and income profiles.

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What does this mean for services and urban planning?

For Montréal as a whole, the rise and concentration of single-person households in boroughs like Rosemont and Lachine has three major implications:

1. Health and mental health services

   • More people living alone means a higher risk of undetected mental health issues, especially depression and anxiety among older adults or newcomers.

   • CLSCs, community organisations and clinics in central boroughs need to actively reach people living alone, not just families.

2. Community spaces and social infrastructure

   • Parks, libraries, coworking spaces, cafés and cultural venues are crucial “third places” where people who live alone can connect.

   • Central boroughs with high shares of solo households need well-funded, accessible community centres and neighbourhood houses to reduce isolation.

3. Housing and affordability

   • One-person households are particularly vulnerable to rent increases, because a single income must cover the full cost.

   • In boroughs like Rosemont where nearly half of households are one person, policies around affordable studios and 2½/3½ units become crucial.

   • In Lachine and Montréal-Nord, where incomes tend to be lower, protecting low-rent units and expanding social and community housing is key to preventing displacement of people who live alone.

Bottom line:
The rise of single-person households is reshaping Montréal’s social fabric. In central boroughs like Rosemont and Lachine, solo living is now a structural feature of the population, not a niche. Planning for health, housing and social life must start from this reality if we want to prevent isolation and build a city where living alone doesn’t mean being alone.