Photo: Ken Walker · CC BY 2.5Above 95% of Canadian towns: 59% of residents said they have no religion
Of the immigrants living here, 13% came between 2011 and 2021; across Canada’s towns the share is 27%. About 18,184 people lived in Central Saanich in July 2025, Statistics Canada estimates. The share of children under 15 stands at 14%. With a median age of 49.6, Central Saanich is older than 84% of Canadian towns.
What stands out about the people of Central Saanich
Many older residents
27% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 87% of Canadian towns; 6.5% are 80 or over, and 25% of households are one person living alone. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
+3% since 2016: slower than 54% of Canadian towns
The 2021 Census is the source of every figure here unless a date says otherwise. How the population moved between the last two censuses, and since.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Across Canada’s towns, the typical town changed +4%; across British Columbia’s towns, +6%. Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025 is 5% higher again.
Central Saanich sits above 87% of Canadian towns for residents aged 65 and over (27%)
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
The biggest five-year age group is 60–64, with nearly one in ten residents. Nearly one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24, a lower share than in 74% of Canadian towns. As a yardstick, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Central Saanich, 49.6. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
A smaller share of one-person households than 58% of Canadian towns: 25%
Who shares a home: household types and sizes.
Against British Columbia’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
One-parent families: 6.8%, below 73% of Canadian towns. On average, 27% of households are one person living alone across Canada’s towns. Households here average 2.4 people each.
A larger share of married residents 15 and over than 77% of Canadian towns: 54%
Marital status of residents 15 and over, with common-law couples counted apart.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Set against 11% across Canada’s towns, one in ten residents 15 and over live common-law in Central Saanich. Single and never married: just over a fifth of adults, against a typical 27%.
54% of households live in a single-detached house, fewer than in 63% of Canadian towns
Houses and apartments, owners and renters, older and newer homes. 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
A fifth of households rent their home; across Canada’s towns the figure is 25%. Newer homes outnumber old: 19% date from 2001 or later, 8.9% from before 1961. For households in single-detached houses, the comparison across Canada’s towns is 64%.
The median household brings in $103,000 a year
Census incomes cover 2020, when emergency benefits like CERB lifted many households’ totals. What households took in before tax, at the middle and across income groups.
Households by income · share of households
The middle household in Central Saanich had $103,000 before tax, 20% above the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). The middle household across British Columbia’s towns has $87,000 before tax. In 2020, 19% of income recipients drew a COVID-19 emergency or recovery benefit; the typical town had 28%.
Residents who moved in within the year: 9.9%, a lower share than 61% of Canadian towns
Immigrants by continent of birth and when they arrived, citizenship, and who moved in recently.
Immigrants, by continent of birth · share of all residents; the bar runs to 20%
When immigrants arrived · share of immigrants
Citizenship and moving · share of residents
Across Canada’s towns, the share of residents without Canadian citizenship is 5.8%; Central Saanich has 3.6%. Most immigrants were born in Europe (57%) or in Asia (19%). Elsewhere, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns.
Central Saanich: 3.8% of residents have an Indigenous identity, above 61% of Canadian towns
Residents’ own answers on visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
In Central Saanich, 8.4% of residents belong to a visible minority, beside 15% across Canada’s towns. For comparison, 2.8% of residents have an Indigenous identity across Canada’s towns.
9.6% of residents speak English and French, a share 60% of Canadian towns don’t reach
English, French and the other languages people grew up with or speak at home.
Can hold a conversation in · share of all residents
Mother tongue · share of all residents
Here, 1.2% of residents have French as their mother tongue. Elsewhere, 7.5% of residents speak English and French across Canada’s towns.
Above 68% of Canadian towns: 37% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher
The highest diploma or degree of adults of working age (25 to 64).
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
At the bottom of the ladder, 5% hold no certificate of any kind, against 9.5% in the typical town. By way of comparison, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
59% of residents 15 and over were in work
Census day was in May 2021, mid-pandemic: some of these rates are lower than in a usual year. The census’s work rates at a glance. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
Employment here, 59%, matches the middle of Canada’s towns (58%) within a couple of points.
Ranked by age, 6th oldest of 41 towns this size
Similar-sized towns by median age; each dot is a town.
The youngest is Schmidtville (29) and the oldest Oak Bay (54.4). Next to Central Saanich on this scale come L'Ancienne-Lorette (47.6), Thornhill (47.9), Greater Napanee (50.4) and Port Hope (50.8).
Of the 6 towns nearest Central Saanich, 4 are older
Places nearby, shaded by median age, each linked to its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Saanich | 18,184 | — | 49.6 | 27% | 16% |
| East Saanich 2 | 1,962 | 3.5 km | 64 | 47% | 0% |
| Highlands | 2,753 | 7.5 km | 45.6 | 18% | 12% |
| Sidney | 13,445 | 9.4 km | 62 | 45% | 23% |
| North Saanich | 12,986 | 10.5 km | 56.8 | 35% | 17% |
| Saanich | 126,011 | 11.9 km | 44.4 | 23% | 23% |
| Electoral Area A, Cowichan Valley | 5,156 | 12.3 km | 54 | 29% | 17% |
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. For each measure we take the median of British Columbia’s towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, then the median of all Canadian towns. Neither counts whole cities or reserves, and every percentile is a Canadian one.
Questions about Central Saanich’s residents
What is the population of Central Saanich?
About 18,184, by Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025. The 2021 Census found 17,385 people in Central Saanich, 3% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Central Saanich?
The median age is 49.6, older than 84% of Canadian towns. 14% are under 15 and 27% 65 or older.
Is Central Saanich bilingual?
9.6% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 0% speak French only and 90% English only. French is the mother tongue of 1.2%.
How diverse is Central Saanich?
Immigrants: 16% (Canada’s towns: 17%). Visible minority: 8.4%. Indigenous identity: 3.8%.
What religion are people in Central Saanich?
59% said they have no religion and 37% that they are Christian; 3.8% named another faith.
Is Central Saanich good for families?
14% of residents are under 15 (Canada’s towns: 16%); couple families are 57% of households and one-parent families 6.8%. Schools near Central Saanich are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Central Saanich?
Half of Central Saanich’s households had more than $103,000 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).