Demographics
In the 2021 Canadian census conducted by Statistics Canada, Sioux Lookout had a population of 5,839 living in 2,340 of its 2,647 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 5,272. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
As an ethnically diverse community, Sioux Lookout has a large Indigenous population (2,090 people, 1,885 First Nations and 190 Métis) along with a smaller number of individuals from all over the world. presented by the League for Human Rights of B'nai Brith Canada, for "their web site which deals with the effects and strategies of dealing with issues of racism and resources and strategies to deal with instances of racism".
The town also appears as a prominent figure in the novel, The Cunning Man by Robertson Davies.
Sioux Lookout is also a feature in Paulette Jiles' novel North Spirit: Travels Among the Cree and Ojibway Nations and Their Star Maps published in 1995 by Doubleday Canada.
Music
Lawrence Martin, a Juno Award-winning musician, was the mayor of Sioux Lookout during the 1990s. Martin is now mayor of Cochrane, and was once a member of the TVOntario board of directors. Also, a concert series called S.L.Y.M (Sioux Lookout Youth Music) Productions supplies the town with local and out-of- town bands for the town's ear drums. To date, S.L.Y.M has featured the local bands of Darkness Deprived, Red Radio, Double Helix, and The Four Ohms. S.L.Y.M. also regularly hosts open coffee houses to showcase local acoustic talent. The Sioux Lookout Cultural Centre for Youth and the Arts is under construction and will include a recording studio for aspiring local artists.
Film
Sioux Lookout appears as the setting for the fictional town Autumn Springs, in the film of the same name, "Autumn Springs."
Sports
Sioux Lookout was home to the Sioux Lookout Flyers, a Junior A team in the Superior International Junior Hockey League, which folded in 2012. Also hosted every year is a First Nations hockey tournament.
Ryan Parent, first round National Hockey League (NHL) draft pick and two-time IIHF World Junior Championship champion, was raised in Sioux Lookout. Parent returns to his home town during the off-season. As a member of the Canadian World Juniors team, Parent won two consecutive gold medals in 2006 and 2007. He was a first-round draft pick (18th overall) of the Nashville Predators in the 2005 NHL entry draft and was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers on 17 February 2007. Ryan Parent officially joined the NHL when he was recalled from the Flyer's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate team the Philadelphia Phantoms on 13 February 2008 and took a place on the roster.
The Sioux Lookout Bombers is a junior ice hockey franchise of the Superior International Junior Hockey League (SIJHL) based in Sioux Lookout, Ontario, Canada. It debuted as an expansion franchise in the 2022–23 SIJHL season.
Infrastructure
thumb|Aerial view of Sioux Lookout
New residential zones have been created in response to Sioux Lookout's continued population growth (which is one of the highest rates in Northern Ontario). In the past decade, Sioux Lookout has renovated its train station and built several new buildings including a new elementary school, a new high school, grocery store, youth centre, court house, hospital, and clinic.
Health and medicine
The new Sioux Lookout Meno-Ya-Win Health Centre opened its doors to patients in late 2010. The hospital has brought many health care services together under one roof. The building complex provides Sioux Lookout, as well as 29 northern communities, with healthcare services. The catchment area for the health centre covers an area larger than France. The health centre—including a hospital, long term care facility, and community services—is characterized by its unique blending of mainstream and traditional Indigenous care. It has been designated as Ontario's centre of excellence for First Nations' healthcare.
Transportation
Sioux Lookout Airport was opened in 1933; at the time it was the second busiest airport in North America next to Chicago. Today, the airport is a mini-hub facilitating travel to and from all northern communities in Northwestern Ontario. Ornge, Ontario's air ambulance service, operates a base at the airport. Bearskin Airlines, SkyCare Air Ambulance, Slate Falls Airways, North Star Air, Bamaji Air Service, Perimeter Aviation and Wasaya Airways all operate out of the airport. It is the only high school (public or Catholic) within Sioux Lookout.
Elementary and other education centres
Sioux Lookout has two major elementary schools: Sioux Mountain Public School of the Keewatin-Patricia District School Board and Sacred Heart School of the Northwest Catholic District School Board.
Other schools in the area include Cornerstone Christian Academy and Pelican Falls First Nations High School.
Hudson Public School in Hudson, Ontario was closed in 2011 by the Keewatin-Patricia District School Board and now used as Lac Seul Centre of Training Excellence. The closest elementary school near Hudson is Obishkokaang Elementary School on the north side of Lost Lake and serves students from the Lac Seul First Nation. Public school students in Hudson now must travel to Sioux Lookout.
Media
Newspaper
- Sioux Lookout Bulletin
Radio
- FM 89.9 - CKWT-FM, Wawatay Radio Network, First Nations community
- FM 91.9 - CIDE-FM, Wawatay Radio Network, First Nations community
- FM 95.3 - CBLS-FM, CBC Radio One (rebroadcaster of CBQT-FM Thunder Bay)
- FM 97.1 - CKDR-FM-2, adult contemporary (rebroadcaster of CKDR-FM Dryden)
- FM 104.5 - CKQV-FM-3, classic hits (rebroadcaster of CKQV-FM Vermilion Bay)