Photo: Hameltion · CC BY-SA 4.0Bowen Island ranks above 99% of Canadian towns on residents with no religion: 68%
Set against 64% across Canada’s towns, 89% of households live in a single-detached house in Bowen Island. Statistics Canada puts the town’s population at 4,501 for July 2025. For Bowen Island, the census puts residents aged 15 to 24 at 8.6%. Nearly a quarter of residents are immigrants, more than in 60% of Canadian towns.
What stands out about the people of Bowen Island
Growing faster than most
Bowen Island went from 3,680 people in 2016 to 4,256 in 2021, +16%: faster growth than in 93% of Canadian towns. Population change ↓
Older than most towns
The middle resident of Bowen Island is 50; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 25% are 65 or over, against 19% across Canada’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Since 2016, Bowen Island has grown +16%, faster than 93% of Canadian towns
All figures are the 2021 Census’s unless another date is shown. How the population moved between the last two censuses, and since.
Change, 2016 to 2021
The median across Canada’s towns is +4%, and across British Columbia’s towns +6%.
Bowen Island is older than 85% of Canadian towns: a median age of 50
Residents by five-year age band, each beside the typical town (the tick).
A quarter of Bowen Island is 65 or over, against 21% across British Columbia’s towns and 19% across Canada’s towns. At the same time, on children under 15, Bowen Island sits lower than 62% of Canadian towns: 15%.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Bowen Island, 50. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women.
One-person households make up 23% in Bowen Island, less than in 64% of Canadian towns
Who shares a home: household types and sizes.
Against British Columbia’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
Here 5.8% of households are one-parent families, where the figure across Canada’s towns is 8.2%. On average, 2.5 people share a household. To put it in context, 27% of households are one person living alone across Canada’s towns.
Bowen Island ranks above 75% of Canadian towns on married residents 15 and over: 54%
Married, common-law, single: residents 15 and over.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
A fifth of adults are single and have never married; the typical town has 27%. Common-law partners: 13% of the total. The wider picture: 46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns.
Bowen Island sits below 75% of Canadian towns for renter households (15%)
Dwelling types, tenure and age of the housing. 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
Newer homes outnumber old: 32% date from 2001 or later, 11% from before 1961. Renter households: 25% across Canada’s towns, for comparison. At 0.3%, households in buildings of five or more storeys sit close to the figure across Canada’s towns.
Before tax, the median household income is $111,000 a year
Incomes are 2020’s, the census’s reference year, and include pandemic benefits such as CERB. What households took in before tax, at the middle and across income groups.
Households by income · share of households
Bowen Island’s median household took in $111,000 before tax, 29% more than the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). The median across British Columbia’s towns is $87,000. COVID-19 benefits were paid to 25% of residents with an income, where the typical town had 28%.
In Bowen Island, 7.8% of residents are not Canadian citizens, more than in 60% of Canadian towns
Where immigrants were born and when they came, and how recently residents moved in.
Immigrants, by continent of birth · share of all residents; the bar runs to 30%
When immigrants arrived · share of immigrants
Citizenship and moving · share of residents
Most recent wave: nearly a quarter of immigrants arrived in 2011–2021 (Canada’s towns: 27%). Immigrants here were most often born in Europe (53%), then in the Americas (22%). A year before the census, 9.8% lived somewhere else: fewer than the typical 11% across Canada’s towns. As a reference point, 5.8% of residents are not Canadian citizens across Canada’s towns.
68% said they have no religion, more than say they are Christian
Residents’ own answers on visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Where 15% of residents belong to a visible minority across Canada’s towns, Bowen Island has 6.6%. 2.8% of residents have an Indigenous identity.
Bowen Island: 13% of residents speak English and French, above 66% of Canadian towns
The official languages residents can speak, and the ones they learned first.
Can hold a conversation in · share of all residents
Mother tongue · share of all residents
There is little gap on residents whose mother tongue is French: 1.9%, about the same as across Canada’s towns. At home: English 96%, French 0.7%. Elsewhere, 7.5% of residents speak English and French across Canada’s towns.
Degree holders aged 25 to 64: 51%, a higher share than 86% of Canadian towns
The highest diploma or degree of adults of working age (25 to 64).
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Without any certificate: 2.5% of 25- to 64-year-olds (typical: 9.5%).
62% of adults were employed in May 2021
May 2021 was still a pandemic month: the census’s work figures reflect that. Work, briefly: employment, unemployment, participation and working from home. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
Across Canada’s towns the typical rate is 58%, below this 62%.
Among 41 towns of 4,422 to 4,587 people, the 5th oldest
The Canadian towns closest in population, from youngest to oldest.
The group spans Fairfield Park, youngest at 31.6, to Caraquet, oldest at 54.4. Queenswood - Chatelaine (47.4), Highway Valley (49.2), Electoral Area P (Rivers and the Peaks), Thompson-Nicola (50.4) and Electoral Area D (Oyster Bay - Buttle Lake), Strathcona (52): the towns nearest Bowen Island in median age.
Nearby, 5 of 6 towns have older populations than Bowen Island
Places nearby, shaded by median age, each linked to its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bowen Island | 4,501 | — | 50 | 25% | 23% |
| Electoral Area F, Sunshine Coast | 2,691 | 11.6 km | 55.6 | 31% | 19% |
| Gibsons | 5,090 | 12.0 km | 56 | 35% | 21% |
| West Vancouver | 47,929 | 12.8 km | 50.8 | 29% | 46% |
| Lions Bay | 1,375 | 13.8 km | 50.4 | 25% | 35% |
| Electoral Area E, Sunshine Coast | 4,279 | 13.9 km | 50.8 | 26% | 15% |
| Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver | 22,031 | 14.6 km | 31.4 | 12% | 46% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What these tables don’t give. Some things the page can’t show: the Census Profile asks nothing about unpaid care, cars or internet access, and gives no change by age since 2016. Ethnic origins beyond visible minority and Indigenous identity aren’t charted.
- 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 British Columbia’s towns and Canada’s towns. The middle of British Columbia’s towns of 2,500 or more comes first, the middle of all Canadian towns second; cities as a whole and First Nations reserves stay out, and percentiles are within Canada.
Questions about Bowen Island’s residents
What is the population of Bowen Island?
About 4,501, by Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025. The 2021 Census found 4,256 people in Bowen Island, 16% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Bowen Island?
The median age is 50, older than 85% of Canadian towns. 15% are under 15 and 25% 65 or older.
Is Bowen Island bilingual?
13% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 0% speak French only and 87% English only. French is the mother tongue of 1.9%.
How diverse is Bowen Island?
Immigrants: 23% (Canada’s towns: 17%). Visible minority: 6.6%. Indigenous identity: 2.8%.
What religion are people in Bowen Island?
68% said they have no religion and 28% that they are Christian; 3.7% named another faith.
Is Bowen Island good for families?
15% of residents are under 15 (Canada’s towns: 16%); couple families are 60% of households and one-parent families 5.8%. Schools near Bowen Island are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Bowen Island?
Half of Bowen Island’s households had more than $111,000 in 2020, before tax; across Canada’s towns the median was $86,000.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population · Statistics Canada, population estimates for 1 July 2025 (table 17-10-0155). 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).