Photo: Garth Bishop · CC BY-SA 3.0Younger than 94% of Canadian towns: half of Summerside is under 33.6
The share of visible minority residents is 51%, against 15% across Canada’s towns. Summerside had 16,760 residents in 5,485 households at the 2021 Census. Across Summerside, 16% of households are one person living alone. More immigrants than in nearly four fifths of Canadian towns: 35%.
What stands out about the people of Summerside
Younger than most towns
Summerside’s median age is 33.6; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 25% are under 15 and 5.9% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Summerside sits below 98% of Canadian towns for residents aged 65 and over (5.9%)
Unless a figure says otherwise, it is from the 2021 Census. Age bands of five years, the town’s bars against the typical town’s ticks.
Children under 15 make up 25%, against 16% across Canada’s towns. Across the comparison, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Summerside, 33.6. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split.
Larger households than 91% of Canadian towns: 3.1 people on average
Households by family type and by the number of people in them.
Against Alberta’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
The census found that nearly one in ten households are one-parent families in Summerside.
A larger share of married residents 15 and over than 83% of Canadian towns: 56%
Residents 15 and over by marital status; the census counts common-law couples separately.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Here nearly one in ten residents 15 and over live common-law, where the figure across Canada’s towns is 11%. Just over a quarter of adults are single and have never married; the typical town has 27%.
Renter households make up 21% in Summerside, less than in 60% of Canadian towns
Occupied homes by type, by owners and renters, and by when they were built. Prices, rents and shelter costs are on Cost of living.
Type of home
Owners and renters · share of households
When homes were built · share of homes
Set against 64% across Canada’s towns, three in five households live in a single-detached house in Summerside. 98% of homes were built in 2001 or later, more than the 0.2% built before 1961. Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in 74% of Canadian towns. The share of renter households across Canada’s towns is 25%.
The middle household earns $127,800 a year
Census incomes cover 2020, when emergency benefits like CERB lifted many households’ totals. Income per household, before tax, with the groups it falls into.
Households by income · share of households
The median across Canada’s towns is $86,000; Summerside’s, at $127,800, is 49% higher. The provincial yardstick is $92,200, the median across Alberta’s towns. Pandemic payments such as CERB reached 33% of income recipients here, against 28% in the typical town.
A larger share of residents without Canadian citizenship than 76% of Canadian towns: 13%
Immigrants, newcomers and movers.
Immigrants, by continent of birth · share of all residents; the bar runs to 45%
When immigrants arrived · share of immigrants
Citizenship and moving · share of residents
Of the immigrants living here, 40% came between 2011 and 2021; across Canada’s towns the share is 27%. Typically, 5.8% of residents are not Canadian citizens across Canada’s towns. The share of residents who moved in within the year stands at 12%.
34% of residents said they have no religion, fewer than in 55% of Canadian towns
Identity and faith, in the census’s categories.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
There is little gap on Indigenous residents: 3.6%, about the same as across Canada’s towns. Residents with no religion: 35% across Canada’s towns, for comparison. Among other religions: Sikh (9.5%), Hindu (7.4%) and Muslim (6.6%).
60% have English as their mother tongue; 6.3% also speak French
Knowledge of the two official languages, first languages, and the language of home.
Can hold a conversation in · share of all residents
Mother tongue · share of all residents
21% most often speak a language other than English or French at home, and 2.1% speak neither official language. Where 7.5% of residents speak English and French across Canada’s towns, Summerside has 6.3%.
Above 78% of Canadian towns: 44% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher
Education of residents 25 to 64, by highest credential.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Some 4.9% have no certificate, diploma or degree, against a typical 9.5%. Elsewhere, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
70% of residents 15 and over were in work
These rates date from May 2021, during the pandemic, and run lower than a normal year’s. The census’s labour rates, in brief. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
Across Canada’s towns the typical rate is 58%, below this 70%.
Of 41 towns its size (16,273 to 17,248 people), the 1st youngest
Median age of the Canadian towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
Between Summerside (33.6) and Saint-Charles-Borromée (57.2) lies the rest of the group. Next to Summerside on this scale come Laurentian West (33.9) and Préfontaine (34.4).
Summerside is younger than 3 of its 6 nearest neighbours
Neighbouring places and their median ages; each name opens its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summerside | 16,760 | — | 33.6 | 5.9% | 35% |
| The Orchards At Ellerslie | 6,267 | 1.1 km | 31.3 | 3% | 45% |
| Ellerslie | 5,963 | 1.4 km | 34 | 5.8% | 42% |
| Walker | 13,388 | 1.7 km | 32.2 | 4.9% | 54% |
| Charlesworth | 8,135 | 2.5 km | 32.3 | 5.8% | 48% |
| Anthony Henday South East | 4,960 | 3.0 km | 41.5 | 18% | 20% |
| Cavanagh | 7,300 | 3.5 km | 38.5 | 15% | 41% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The census’s own words. These are self-reported answers: Indigenous identity, immigrant status, religion. The census’s “visible minority” comes from the Employment Equity Act (non-white in colour or race, Indigenous peoples aside), and the page sets each beside other towns without labelling any.
- Against Alberta’s towns and Canada’s towns. Each comparison is its own median: over Alberta’s towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, and over all Canadian towns of that size (whole cities and First Nations reserves left out). Percentiles are within Canada only.
- Neighbourhoods are sums of small areas. Statistics Canada reports the census by municipality; a neighbourhood’s figures are the sum of its dissemination areas, rounded counts and all, with medians estimated from age and income groups and no 2016 count, as the 2016 areas don’t fit.
- What these tables don’t give. The Census Profile has no unpaid care, cars or internet access, and no change by age since 2016; ethnic origins beyond visible minority and Indigenous identity aren’t charted here.
Questions about Summerside’s residents
What is the median income in Summerside?
Half of Summerside’s households had more than $127,800 in 2020, before tax; across Canada’s towns the median was $86,000.
What is the population of Summerside?
The 2021 Census counted 16,760 people in Summerside.
What is the average age in Summerside?
The median age is 33.6, younger than 94% of Canadian towns. 25% are under 15 and 5.9% 65 or older.
Is Summerside bilingual?
6.3% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 0.1% speak French only and 91% English only. French is the mother tongue of 1.3%.
How diverse is Summerside?
Immigrants: 35% (Canada’s towns: 17%). Visible minority: 51%. Indigenous identity: 3.6%.
What religion are people in Summerside?
34% said they have no religion and 40% that they are Christian; 26% named another faith.
Is Summerside good for families?
25% of residents are under 15 (Canada’s towns: 16%); couple families are 60% of households and one-parent families 8.3%. Schools near Summerside are on its Schools page.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population. Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).