Dating in Ontario: How to Meet People Beyond Your Small Town

Ontario has about 16.3 million people and 414 municipalities, and many of them are small: 178 (43%) have fewer than 5,000 people, and 73 have fewer than 1,000. If you live in one, you already know what dating close to home looks like: you've met most of the single people you'd consider, or you know someone who has.

This page is for everyone in those towns. It covers why the big dating apps make a small town's dating pool even smaller, how Amarbis lets you meet people across all of Ontario instead, and, further down, every municipality in Ontario by census division.

Ontario by town size

Size of municipality	Municipalities	People
Under 1,000	73	41,000
1,000 to 4,999	105	281,000
5,000 to 24,999	159	1.9 million
25,000 or more	77	13.9 million

The typical Ontario municipality has about 7,300 people. Its 77 municipalities of 25,000 or more, led by Toronto (3.3 million), Ottawa (1.2 million) and Brampton (778,000), are home to about 13.9 million of the province's 16.3 million people; everyone else lives in the smaller towns and the countryside.

Why dating close to home runs out in small-town Ontario

Dating apps that sort by distance start with the people nearest you. In a small Ontario town that's a short list, and it doesn't take long to see all of it. A few examples:

Marathon (about 3,200 people): no other municipalities within 50 km, and the nearest municipality of 25,000 or more is Thunder Bay, 215 km away.
Wawa (about 2,900 people): 1 other municipality with 541 people within 50 km, and the nearest municipality of 25,000 or more is Sault Ste. Marie, 163 km away.
Red Lake (about 4,300 people): 1 other municipality with 971 people within 50 km, and the nearest municipality of 25,000 or more is Winnipeg, Manitoba, 277 km away.

Those counts are for municipalities only, so people in First Nations communities and unorganized areas nearby add to them, but the point stands: a distance-ranked app fills a small-town deck with the same few faces, and the bigger pools are a long drive away.

Why the nearest city is out of reach on the big apps

Dating in a small town is hard, and meeting someone in the nearest city can be harder. Many dating apps lean on distance to decide who you see, and Tinuiti's analysis of Tinder's algorithm says proximity is a key factor in who it shows you. When someone in Toronto or Ottawa opens a distance-ranked app, the people who live near them come first. You live farther away, so you land behind their neighbours in their deck, whatever your photos and profile say.

That's the small-town problem twice over: at home you keep seeing the same people, and in the city you're barely seen.

How Amarbis is different

You choose your region

On Amarbis you choose the region you meet people from instead of being limited to whoever lives closest. Choose Ontario and your pool is the whole province, about 16.3 million people, whether you live in Toronto or a town of a few hundred. A member in a town of 1,000 has the same province-wide pool as a member in Toronto.

Ranking isn't based on distance

On Amarbis, ranking isn't based on distance. Choose Ontario as your region and the person you'd like to meet in Toronto isn't shown their next-door neighbour ahead of you because of where you live. It's the opposite of the proximity problem above, and it matters most to the people the big apps leave behind.

No distance limits, and the whole world if you want it

Amarbis has no distance limits, so you aren't limited to Ontario either. You can widen your region to the neighbouring provinces or meet someone in another country: Amarbis is an international dating app, the app speaks more than 50 languages, and built-in chat translation helps when you don't share one. The kilometres only matter once you both want to meet.

Real people, reviewed by real people

Every member has a real face photo, photos are screened before anyone sees them, and every profile on Amarbis is reviewed by a real person. When your local pool is small, every fake or abandoned profile takes up a bigger share of what you see, so that review step is worth more in a small town than in a big city.

Free to join

Joining is free, with no credit card. The free plan gives you 25 likes a day and unlimited messaging with your matches, so you can find out whether Amarbis works for your town before you pay anything. See plans and pricing for what the paid plans add.

How to start from a small town in Ontario

Sign up free and build a profile that sounds like you: a clear photo of your face and one specific thing about life in your town. Our profile tips show what works.
Set your region to Ontario, or wider if you like.
Message first. One good question about where someone lives works better than "hey", and a conversation can start long before anyone plans a drive.
When you both want to meet, pick a public place about halfway, tell a friend where you're going, and follow our safe-meeting checklist.

Built by someone from a small town

Amarbis's founder, Nick, is from Boardman, Oregon, a city of about 4,500 people. The small-town dating problem on this page is one he knows first-hand: a deck full of people you already know, and a nearby city that ranks its own neighbours ahead of you. Amarbis is built so that where you live in Ontario doesn't decide who you can meet.

Every municipality in Ontario

All 414 municipalities in Ontario, by census division, with Statistics Canada population estimates for July 1, 2025 on 2021 census boundaries. Wherever yours is on this list, everything on this page applies to you: choose Ontario as your region on Amarbis and every place below is in your pool.

Algoma

Blind River: 3,692 people
Bruce Mines: 611 people
Dubreuilville: 541 people
Elliot Lake: 12,317 people
Hilton: 426 people
Hilton Beach: 220 people
Hornepayne: 1,110 people
Huron Shores: 2,030 people
Jocelyn: 348 people
Johnson: 842 people
Laird: 1,221 people
Macdonald, Meredith and Aberdeen Additional: 1,771 people
Plummer Additional: 850 people
Prince: 1,113 people
Sault Ste. Marie: 81,182 people
Spanish: 748 people
St. Joseph: 1,560 people
Tarbutt and Tarbutt Additional: 642 people
The North Shore: 606 people
Thessalon: 1,363 people
Wawa: 2,943 people
White River: 626 people

Brant

Brant: 45,565 people
Brantford: 123,521 people

Bruce

Arran-Elderslie: 7,639 people
Brockton: 10,811 people
Huron-Kinloss: 8,445 people
Kincardine: 13,169 people
Northern Bruce Peninsula: 5,018 people
Saugeen Shores: 18,167 people
South Bruce: 6,247 people
South Bruce Peninsula: 9,799 people

Chatham-Kent

Chatham-Kent: 112,716 people

Cochrane

Black River-Matheson: 2,899 people
Cochrane: 5,948 people
Fauquier-Strickland: 484 people
Hearst: 5,032 people
Iroquois Falls: 4,640 people
Kapuskasing: 8,825 people
Mattice-Val Côté: 590 people
Moonbeam: 1,262 people
Moosonee: 1,510 people
Opasatika: 217 people
Smooth Rock Falls: 1,259 people
Timmins: 45,569 people
Val Rita-Harty: 774 people

Dufferin

Amaranth: 4,808 people
East Garafraxa: 2,976 people
Grand Valley: 4,759 people
Melancthon: 3,581 people
Mono: 10,036 people
Mulmur: 3,813 people
Orangeville: 33,070 people
Shelburne: 10,767 people

Durham

Ajax: 141,111 people
Brock: 13,710 people
Clarington: 114,180 people
Oshawa: 213,592 people
Pickering: 118,378 people
Scugog: 23,928 people
Uxbridge: 22,618 people
Whitby: 162,413 people

Elgin

Aylmer: 8,371 people
Bayham: 7,935 people
Central Elgin: 15,230 people
Dutton/Dunwich: 4,686 people
Malahide: 9,995 people
Southwold: 5,473 people
St. Thomas: 49,388 people
West Elgin: 5,566 people

Essex

Amherstburg: 27,509 people
Essex: 23,872 people
Kingsville: 25,302 people
LaSalle: 36,452 people
Lakeshore: 45,954 people
Leamington: 34,653 people
Pelee: 266 people
Tecumseh: 25,554 people
Windsor: 269,614 people

Frontenac

Central Frontenac: 5,348 people
Frontenac Islands: 1,963 people
Kingston: 149,527 people
North Frontenac: 2,515 people
South Frontenac: 21,599 people

Greater Sudbury / Grand Sudbury

Greater Sudbury: 188,504 people

Grey

Chatsworth: 7,770 people
Georgian Bluffs: 12,061 people
Grey Highlands: 12,148 people
Hanover: 8,723 people
Meaford: 12,652 people
Owen Sound: 24,075 people
Southgate: 11,599 people
The Blue Mountains: 11,162 people
West Grey: 14,355 people

Haldimand-Norfolk

Haldimand County: 56,059 people
Norfolk County: 75,618 people

Haliburton

Algonquin Highlands: 2,915 people
Dysart et al: 8,100 people
Highlands East: 4,372 people
Minden Hills: 7,841 people

Halton

Burlington: 197,737 people
Halton Hills: 68,265 people
Milton: 157,345 people
Oakville: 243,107 people

Hamilton

Hamilton (city): 640,465 people

Hastings

Bancroft: 4,331 people
Belleville: 62,914 people
Carlow/Mayo: 1,048 people
Centre Hastings: 5,170 people
Deseronto: 1,844 people
Faraday: 1,820 people
Hastings Highlands: 4,957 people
Limerick: 480 people
Madoc: 2,467 people
Marmora and Lake: 4,761 people
Quinte West: 50,385 people
Stirling-Rawdon: 5,489 people
Tudor and Cashel: 816 people
Tweed: 6,504 people
Tyendinaga: 5,005 people
Wollaston: 814 people

Huron

Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh: 7,052 people
Bluewater: 8,327 people
Central Huron: 8,318 people
Goderich: 8,412 people
Howick: 4,517 people
Huron East: 10,402 people
Morris-Turnberry: 4,028 people
North Huron: 5,411 people
South Huron: 10,781 people

Kawartha Lakes

Kawartha Lakes: 85,351 people

Kenora

Dryden: 7,808 people
Ear Falls: 971 people
Ignace: 1,210 people
Kenora: 15,892 people
Machin: 1,060 people
Pickle Lake: 417 people
Red Lake: 4,285 people
Sioux Lookout: 6,122 people
Sioux Narrows-Nestor Falls: 756 people

Lambton

Brooke-Alvinston: 2,557 people
Dawn-Euphemia: 2,127 people
Enniskillen: 3,174 people
Lambton Shores: 12,962 people
Oil Springs: 664 people
Petrolia: 6,422 people
Plympton-Wyoming: 9,548 people
Point Edward: 1,989 people
Sarnia: 80,539 people
St. Clair: 15,872 people
Warwick: 3,955 people

Lanark

Beckwith: 10,073 people
Carleton Place: 14,837 people
Drummond/North Elmsley: 8,817 people
Lanark Highlands: 6,370 people
Mississippi Mills: 16,073 people
Montague: 4,414 people
Perth: 6,972 people
Smiths Falls: 11,093 people
Tay Valley: 6,171 people

Leeds and Grenville

Athens: 3,078 people
Augusta: 7,767 people
Brockville: 23,720 people
Edwardsburgh/Cardinal: 7,952 people
Elizabethtown-Kitley: 9,886 people
Front of Yonge: 2,773 people
Gananoque: 5,568 people
Leeds and the Thousand Islands: 10,185 people
Merrickville-Wolford: 3,411 people
North Grenville: 19,733 people
Prescott: 4,342 people
Rideau Lakes: 12,148 people
Westport: 751 people

Lennox and Addington

Addington Highlands: 2,827 people
Greater Napanee: 18,016 people
Loyalist: 19,761 people
Stone Mills: 8,523 people

Manitoulin

Assiginack: 1,137 people
Billings: 856 people
Burpee and Mills: 404 people
Central Manitoulin: 2,386 people
Cockburn Island: 17 people
Gordon/Barrie Island: 586 people
Gore Bay: 876 people
Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands: 2,764 people
Tehkummah: 524 people

Middlesex

Adelaide-Metcalfe: 3,196 people
London: 494,785 people
Lucan Biddulph: 6,827 people
Middlesex Centre: 21,689 people
Newbury: 448 people
North Middlesex: 6,864 people
Southwest Middlesex: 6,468 people
Strathroy-Caradoc: 26,497 people
Thames Centre: 15,475 people

Muskoka

Bracebridge: 18,676 people
Georgian Bay: 3,798 people
Gravenhurst: 14,576 people
Huntsville: 23,948 people
Lake of Bays: 4,105 people
Muskoka Lakes: 8,463 people

Niagara

Fort Erie: 37,226 people
Grimsby: 31,478 people
Lincoln: 28,356 people
Niagara Falls: 113,983 people
Niagara-on-the-Lake: 20,080 people
Pelham: 19,980 people
Port Colborne: 21,921 people
St. Catharines: 153,865 people
Thorold: 33,844 people
Wainfleet: 7,329 people
Welland: 66,480 people
West Lincoln: 16,586 people

Nipissing

Bonfield: 2,597 people
Calvin: 639 people
Chisholm: 1,593 people
East Ferris: 5,835 people
Mattawa: 2,193 people
Mattawan: 177 people
North Bay: 62,062 people
Papineau-Cameron: 1,136 people
South Algonquin: 1,151 people
Temagami: 991 people
West Nipissing: 16,682 people

Northumberland

Alnwick/Haldimand: 8,197 people
Brighton: 12,900 people
Cobourg: 22,529 people
Cramahe: 7,216 people
Hamilton (township): 11,810 people
Port Hope: 18,446 people
Trent Hills: 15,103 people

Ottawa

Ottawa: 1,188,114 people

Oxford

Blandford-Blenheim: 8,251 people
East Zorra-Tavistock: 8,710 people
Ingersoll: 14,911 people
Norwich: 12,321 people
South-West Oxford: 8,375 people
Tillsonburg: 21,450 people
Woodstock: 55,572 people
Zorra: 9,755 people

Parry Sound

Armour: 1,698 people
Burk's Falls: 1,031 people
Callander: 4,021 people
Carling: 1,609 people
Joly: 318 people
Kearney: 1,055 people
Machar: 958 people
Magnetawan: 1,888 people
McDougall: 3,002 people
McKellar: 1,534 people
McMurrich/Monteith: 940 people
Nipissing: 1,840 people
Parry Sound: 7,584 people
Perry: 2,866 people
Powassan: 3,657 people
Ryerson: 883 people
Seguin: 5,761 people
South River: 1,211 people
Strong: 1,624 people
Sundridge: 1,056 people
The Archipelago: 1,057 people
Whitestone: 1,160 people

Peel

Brampton: 777,759 people
Caledon: 90,201 people
Mississauga: 764,597 people

Perth

North Perth: 18,168 people
Perth East: 13,423 people
Perth South: 4,055 people
St. Marys: 8,203 people
Stratford: 36,097 people
West Perth: 10,080 people

Peterborough

Asphodel-Norwood: 5,308 people
Cavan Monaghan: 11,507 people
Douro-Dummer: 8,379 people
Havelock-Belmont-Methuen: 5,663 people
North Kawartha: 3,355 people
Otonabee-South Monaghan: 8,084 people
Peterborough: 97,834 people
Selwyn: 20,628 people
Trent Lakes: 7,357 people

Prescott and Russell

Alfred and Plantagenet: 10,896 people
Casselman: 4,535 people
Champlain: 9,321 people
Clarence-Rockland: 30,375 people
East Hawkesbury: 3,787 people
Hawkesbury: 11,451 people
Russell: 23,655 people
The Nation: 15,122 people

Prince Edward

Prince Edward County: 27,544 people

Rainy River

Alberton: 977 people
Atikokan: 2,796 people
Chapple: 761 people
Dawson: 408 people
Emo: 1,255 people
Fort Frances: 7,607 people
La Vallee: 812 people
Lake of the Woods: 310 people
Morley: 570 people
Rainy River: 770 people

Renfrew

Admaston/Bromley: 3,086 people
Arnprior: 11,459 people
Bonnechere Valley: 4,326 people
Brudenell, Lyndoch and Raglan: 1,656 people
Deep River: 4,353 people
Greater Madawaska: 3,234 people
Head, Clara and Maria: 293 people
Horton: 3,550 people
Killaloe, Hagarty and Richards: 2,505 people
Laurentian Hills: 3,147 people
Laurentian Valley: 9,714 people
Madawaska Valley: 4,151 people
McNab/Braeside: 8,340 people
North Algona Wilberforce: 3,290 people
Pembroke: 15,479 people
Petawawa: 19,606 people
Renfrew: 8,721 people
Whitewater Region: 7,899 people

Simcoe

Adjala-Tosorontio: 11,948 people
Barrie: 174,469 people
Bradford West Gwillimbury: 51,346 people
Clearview: 16,571 people
Collingwood: 28,366 people
Essa: 26,036 people
Innisfil: 50,686 people
Midland: 19,305 people
New Tecumseth: 50,739 people
Orillia: 37,735 people
Oro-Medonte: 24,681 people
Penetanguishene: 11,141 people
Ramara: 11,551 people
Severn: 15,716 people
Springwater: 24,144 people
Tay: 11,968 people
Tiny: 14,195 people
Wasaga Beach: 28,736 people

Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry

Cornwall: 54,346 people
North Dundas: 12,706 people
North Glengarry: 10,772 people
North Stormont: 7,946 people
South Dundas: 11,943 people
South Glengarry: 14,355 people
South Stormont: 14,602 people

Sudbury

Baldwin: 619 people
Chapleau: 2,044 people
Espanola: 5,504 people
French River: 3,178 people
Killarney: 424 people
Markstay-Warren: 2,990 people
Nairn and Hyman: 450 people
Sables-Spanish Rivers: 3,412 people
St.-Charles: 1,654 people

Thunder Bay

Conmee: 776 people
Dorion: 400 people
Gillies: 486 people
Greenstone: 4,398 people
Manitouwadge: 2,052 people
Marathon: 3,223 people
Neebing: 2,390 people
Nipigon: 1,624 people
O'Connor: 659 people
Oliver Paipoonge: 6,524 people
Red Rock: 955 people
Schreiber: 1,068 people
Shuniah: 3,458 people
Terrace Bay: 1,553 people
Thunder Bay: 117,671 people

Timiskaming

Armstrong: 1,269 people
Brethour: 110 people
Casey: 362 people
Chamberlain: 340 people
Charlton and Dack: 729 people
Cobalt: 942 people
Coleman: 565 people
Englehart: 1,559 people
Evanturel: 525 people
Gauthier: 162 people
Harley: 595 people
Harris: 584 people
Hilliard: 230 people
Hudson: 564 people
James: 378 people
Kerns: 389 people
Kirkland Lake: 8,158 people
Larder Lake: 729 people
Latchford: 389 people
Matachewan: 317 people
McGarry: 610 people
Temiskaming Shores: 10,144 people
Thornloe: 97 people

Toronto

Toronto: 3,271,830 people

Waterloo

Cambridge: 165,354 people
Kitchener: 323,917 people
North Dumfries: 13,051 people
Waterloo: 142,450 people
Wellesley: 12,413 people
Wilmot: 22,890 people
Woolwich: 31,382 people

Wellington

Centre Wellington: 34,565 people
Erin: 12,924 people
Guelph: 160,760 people
Guelph/Eramosa: 14,870 people
Mapleton: 11,518 people
Minto: 10,029 people
Puslinch: 8,577 people
Wellington North: 14,407 people

York

Aurora: 67,385 people
East Gwillimbury: 42,989 people
Georgina: 53,630 people
King: 29,077 people
Markham: 371,504 people
Newmarket: 95,763 people
Richmond Hill: 222,031 people
Vaughan: 358,535 people
Whitchurch-Stouffville: 58,010 people

Frequently asked questions

What is the best dating app for small towns in Ontario?

We think it's Amarbis. You choose the region you meet people from, so a small Ontario town gets the same province-wide pool as Toronto; ranking isn't based on distance; there are no distance limits; every profile is reviewed by a real person; and joining is free.

Why do I keep seeing the same people on dating apps in my Ontario town?

Many dating apps lean on distance to decide who you see, and in a small town the closest people are a short list. Tinuiti's analysis of Tinder's algorithm says proximity is a key factor, which is why a small-town deck fills with the same neighbours. On Amarbis you choose your region, so your pool isn't limited to your postal code.

Can I meet people from all over Ontario?

Yes. Choose Ontario as your region and you meet people across the province, from wherever you live, without being ranked behind someone's neighbours.

Can I meet people outside Ontario?

Yes. Amarbis has no distance limits, so you can widen your region or meet someone in another country, with built-in chat translation when you don't share a language. Start with the international dating guide.

Is Amarbis free?

Yes. Joining is free, with no credit card, and the free plan includes 25 likes a day and unlimited messaging with your matches. Create your profile.

Neighbouring provinces: Manitoba and Quebec. See every province and U.S. state. New here? Read why Amarbis is the best dating app for small towns.

More from Amarbis

Population figures are Statistics Canada estimates for July 1, 2025, on 2021 census boundaries. The list covers municipalities, so First Nations reserves and unorganized areas aren't included. Distances are straight-line kilometres between town locations, so road distances are longer.