L4R vs L9M

Ontario

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 L4R and L9M, 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	L4R	L9M	Canada	Difference
Median household income	$70,500	$76,000	$84,000	L4R is 7% lower than L9M
Median after-tax income	$63,200	$68,500	$73,000	L4R is 8% lower than L9M
Median age	50.4	53.2	41.6	L4R is 5% lower than L9M
Unemployment rate	12.2%	12%	10.3%	L4R is about the same as L9M
Low income (LIM-AT)	13.8%	12.1%	11.1%	L4R is 14% higher than L9M
Average household size	2.2	2.3	2.4	L4R is about the same as L9M

Counts for each area. These describe the place and are not compared as ratios.
Measure	L4R	L9M
Population	19,245	16,607
Private dwellings	8,901	9,066
Land area	108 km²	243 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	L4R	L9M
Grocery store	1 km walk	68%	29%
Public transit	1 km walk	0%	0%
Park	1 km walk	73%	43%
Pharmacy	1 km walk	24%	10%
Child care	1.5 km walk	79%	50%
Primary school	1.5 km walk	75%	49%
Secondary school	1.5 km walk	76%	49%
Library	1.5 km walk	31%	34%
Health care	3 km drive	98%	90%
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	L4R	L9M
studio	not surveyed	not surveyed
1	not surveyed	not surveyed
2	not surveyed	not surveyed
3plus	not surveyed	not surveyed

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	L4R	L9M
Nearest AQHI station	Barrie · 44 km	Barrie · 51 km
Current reading	not shown	not shown
Reporting facilities within 10 km	11	9
Reported releases to air	40 t	39 t

L4R: Barrie, 44 km away, is the nearest Air Quality Health Index location, but no current reading could be retrieved from Environment and Climate Change Canada.
L9M: The nearest Air Quality Health Index location is Barrie, 51 km from L9M. That is far enough to be a different airshed, so its reading is not shown here as though it described this area. The index is published for about 130 communities and zones, not continuously across Canada.

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.

L4R in full · L9M 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.