Photo: James Abbott from New Westminster, B.C., Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0Older than 89% of Canadian towns: half of Cowichan Bay is over 51.6
The share of residents with no religion tops 98% of Canadian towns: 67%. Cowichan Bay is home to some 3,713 people (July 2025 estimate), in 1,490 households at the 2021 Census. The census found that 7.1% of residents are aged 15 to 24 in the town. At 16%, the share of renter households is lower than in 74% of Canadian towns. The census figures here are for the whole of Cowichan Valley D, the municipality that includes Cowichan Bay.
What stands out about the people of Cowichan Bay
Older than most towns
Cowichan Bay’s median age is 51.6; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 27% are 65 or over, against 19% across Canada’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Cowichan Bay’s population changed by +9% since 2016, more than in 76% of Canadian towns
All figures are the 2021 Census’s unless another date is shown. Residents at the 2016 and 2021 censuses and the latest estimate, with the 2016–2021 change beside other towns.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Across Canada’s towns, the typical town changed +4%; across British Columbia’s towns, +6%. The July 2025 estimate adds another 5%.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 27% in Cowichan Bay, more than in 86% of Canadian towns
Every five-year age group as a share of residents; ticks mark the typical town.
The biggest five-year age group is 60–64, with 9.6% of residents, 1.4 times the share across Canada’s towns. Across Canada’s towns, 19% of residents are 65 or over. The census found that 14% of residents are under 15 in Cowichan Bay.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Cowichan Bay, 51.6. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split.
Households here average 2.3 people, below 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.
7% of households are one-parent families (Canada’s towns: 8.2%). For Cowichan Bay, the census puts one-person households at 26%.
Married residents 15 and over make up 54% in Cowichan Bay, more than in 75% of Canadian towns
How adults live as couples, or don’t, with common-law unions shown on their own.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Never married and not common-law: 19% of adults (typical: 27%). Across the comparison, 46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns. The share of common-law partners stands at 11%.
A larger share of households in single-detached houses than 73% of Canadian towns: 80%
The kinds of homes people live in, who owns and who rents, and how old the homes are. 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
Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in 74% of Canadian towns. The wider picture: 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns. Just over a third of homes were built in 2001 or later, more than the 11% built before 1961.
Median gross household income: $89,000 a year
The income year is 2020: a year of pandemic benefits such as CERB, which the figures count. Income per household, before tax, with the groups it falls into.
Households by income · share of households
Cowichan Bay’s median household took in $89,000 before tax, about the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Among British Columbia’s towns, the typical figure is $87,000. COVID-19 benefits went to 23% of residents with an income (typical: 28%).
Only 9.7% of residents lived at another address a year earlier in Cowichan Bay
Birthplaces and arrival years of immigrants, citizenship and recent moves.
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
Most immigrants were born in Europe (60%) or in the Americas (18%). The benchmark for residents who moved in within the year across Canada’s towns: 11%. 16% of immigrants arrived between 2011 and 2021, against 27% across Canada’s towns.
Indigenous residents make up 5.8% in Cowichan Bay, more than in 74% of Canadian towns
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, Cowichan Bay has 5.4%. Across Canada’s towns, the share of Indigenous residents is 2.8%.
92% have English as their mother tongue; 6.5% also speak French
Who can speak English and French, mother tongue, and the language spoken most at home.
Can hold a conversation in · share of all residents
Mother tongue · share of all residents
At home: English 98%, French 0.3%. Little separates the share of residents whose mother tongue is French here, 1.3%, from the figure across Canada’s towns.
31% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, a share 57% of Canadian towns don’t reach
The highest diploma or degree of adults of working age (25 to 64).
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Holding no credential: 7.4% (typical 9.5%). Measured more widely, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
57% 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. Four labour figures from the census. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
Across Canada’s towns the typical rate is 58%, much like this 57%.
Of 41 towns its size (3,657 to 3,770 people), the 6th oldest
Towns of about this size, placed by median age.
At one end is West Kildonan Industrial (31.5), at the other Piedmont (58). Next to Cowichan Bay on this scale come Baie-D'Urfé (50.4), Powassan (50.4), Lake Cowichan (52) and Blind River (52.8).
Cowichan Bay sits below 2 of its 6 closest neighbours on median age
Places nearby, shaded by median age, each linked to its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cowichan Bay | 3,713 | — | 51.6 | 27% | 14% |
| Cobble Hill | 5,074 | 5.6 km | 58.8 | 38% | 16% |
| Cowichan | 2,509 | 6.4 km | 30.2 | 9.3% | 0% |
| Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley | 4,482 | 7.3 km | 46 | 21% | 7.7% |
| Duncan | 5,745 | 7.8 km | 55.6 | 36% | 11% |
| Shawnigan | 9,903 | 9.6 km | 44.4 | 18% | 8.5% |
| North Cowichan | 34,525 | 10.0 km | 51.2 | 29% | 14% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against British Columbia’s towns and Canada’s towns. Each comparison is its own median: over British Columbia’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.
- 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. In the census, “visible minority” is the Employment Equity Act’s term for people who are non-white in colour or race and not Indigenous. Like immigrant status, Indigenous identity and religion, which residents reported themselves, it is compared with other towns, never turned into a label.
Questions about Cowichan Bay’s residents
Is Cowichan Bay good for families?
14% of residents are under 15 (Canada’s towns: 16%); couple families are 57% of households and one-parent families 7%. Schools near Cowichan Bay are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Cowichan Bay?
Half of Cowichan Bay’s households had more than $89,000 in 2020, before tax; across Canada’s towns the median was $86,000.
What is the population of Cowichan Bay?
About 3,713, by Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025. The 2021 Census found 3,530 people in Cowichan Bay, 9% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Cowichan Bay?
The median age is 51.6, older than 89% of Canadian towns. 14% are under 15 and 27% 65 or older.
Is Cowichan Bay bilingual?
English and French: 6.5% speak both (Canada’s towns: 7.5%). English only: 93%. French only: 0%. French mother tongue: 1.3%.
How diverse is Cowichan Bay?
Immigrants: 14% (Canada’s towns: 17%). Visible minority: 5.4%. Indigenous identity: 5.8%.
What religion are people in Cowichan Bay?
67% said they have no religion and 30% that they are Christian; 3.1% named another faith.
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).