J8L vs J8Y

Quebec

This page does not pick a winner. Every row shows two measurements and the gap between them. There is no score, no tally of which area “wins” more categories, and no overall result — those would be a rating of two places and the people who live in them, assembled by the layout.

Both areas are forward sortation areas, and every figure describes the whole of one. Crime is not shown here: it is reported at the metropolitan level, so for two areas in the same city it is usually the same number twice. It is on each area’s own page, with the geography it describes.

Selected 2021 Census figures for J8L and J8Y, with the national figure for scale. The last column states the gap between the two areas as a direction and a size, never as a preference.
Measure	J8L	J8Y	Canada	Difference
Median household income	$79,500	$58,800	$84,000	J8L is 35% higher than J8Y
Median after-tax income	$68,000	$51,200	$73,000	J8L is 33% higher than J8Y
Median age	43.6	42	41.6	J8L is about the same as J8Y
Unemployment rate	6.9%	12.9%	10.3%	J8L is 47% lower than J8Y
Low income (LIM-AT)	11.1%	18.1%	11.1%	J8L is 39% lower than J8Y
Average household size	2.3	1.9	2.4	J8L is 21% higher than J8Y

Counts for each area. These describe the place and are not compared as ratios.
Measure	J8L	J8Y
Population	20,056	23,803
Private dwellings	9,214	13,386
Land area	593 km²	7.9 km²

Share of each area’s residents with an amenity within reach, weighted by where people live. A blank is a coverage fact, not a zero.
Amenity	Within	J8L	J8Y
Grocery store	1 km walk	51%	99%
Public transit	1 km walk	65%	100%
Park	1 km walk	68%	99%
Pharmacy	1 km walk	11%	69%
Child care	1.5 km walk	72%	100%
Primary school	1.5 km walk	55%	97%
Secondary school	1.5 km walk	32%	62%
Library	1.5 km walk	17%	51%
Health care	3 km drive	92%	100%
Employment	10 km drive	100%	100%

These measure how close an amenity is, never its quality. A school 500 m away is a school 500 m away — nothing here says anything about the school itself.
The proximity index is scaled against all of Canada, where 1 is the single most well-served block in the country and the national average is close to zero. It is useful for comparing places and misleading as a score.

What tenants pay, from CMHC’s survey of purpose-built rental buildings. The two areas may sit in different survey zones, or one may not be surveyed at all — that is a coverage fact and is stated rather than left blank.
Unit	J8L	J8Y
Studio	$850	$980
1 bedroom	$1,248	$1,370
2 bedrooms	$1,393	$1,401
3+ bedrooms	$1,345	not published

Adapted from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Rental Market Survey, October 2025. This does not constitute an endorsement by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation of this product.

The air quality index is a reading at the nearest station, which may be far away — the distance is shown because it decides whether the reading describes the area at all. Facility counts are reported releases within 10 km.
Measure	J8L	J8Y
Nearest AQHI station	Gatineau · 22 km	Ottawa · 5.4 km
Current reading	not shown	1.61 — Low risk
Reporting facilities within 10 km	10	16
Reported releases to air	654 t	1,320 t

J8L: Gatineau, 22 km away, is the nearest Air Quality Health Index location, but no current reading could be retrieved from Environment and Climate Change Canada.
J8Y: Measured at Ottawa, 5.4 km from J8Y. The index runs from 1 upward and combines ozone, fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide into one health-risk scale.

This page carries the figures the two areas can be set against each other on. Each area’s own page has the rest — including crime, the boundary map, and every source note and caveat in full.

J8L in full · J8Y in full

Source: Census Profile, 2021 Census (98-401-X). Data current as of 2026-08-12. Statistics Canada Open Licence. Each figure describes a whole forward sortation area. Amenity, rent and air figures carry their own sources and vintages on the area pages.