Photo: Visit-World. com Author: www.visit-world.com · CC BY-SA 3.0Gibsons is older than 96% of Canadian towns: a median age of 56
11% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across Canada’s towns, against 6.9% in Gibsons. The 2021 Census found 2,280 households here; by July 2025 the population was about 5,090. For Gibsons, the census puts residents with no religion at 61%. Higher than in 86% of Canadian towns: 39% of households are one person living alone.
What stands out about the people of Gibsons
Older than most towns
Half of Gibsons’s residents are under 56 and half over; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 35% are 65 or over, against 19% across Canada’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Gibsons’s population moved +3% on 2016, less than in 55% of Canadian towns
Every figure here comes from the 2021 Census unless it carries another date. Residents at the 2016 and 2021 censuses and the latest estimate, with the 2016–2021 change beside other towns.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Medians for comparison: +4% across Canada’s towns; +6% across British Columbia’s towns. The July 2025 estimate adds another 7%.
Gibsons: 35% of residents are 65 or over, above 97% of Canadian towns
Age bands of five years, the town’s bars against the typical town’s ticks.
More residents are 60–64 than any other five-year age: 9.3% of residents, 1.3 times the share across Canada’s towns. Census figures put children under 15 at 11% in Gibsons. The usual figure: 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Gibsons, 56. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
56% women, 44% men
About 79 men for every 100 women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Gibsons households average 2 people, smaller than in 90% of Canadian towns
Private households by type and size.
Against British Columbia’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
One-parent families: nearly a tenth of the total.
In Gibsons, 42% of residents 15 and over are married, fewer than in 65% of Canadian towns
Residents 15 and over by marital status; the census counts common-law couples separately.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Against a figure of 11% across Canada’s towns, the share of common-law partners in Gibsons comes in at 13%. As a reference point, 46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns.
Fewer households in single-detached houses than 61% of Canadian towns: 56%
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
Newer homes outnumber old: 26% date from 2001 or later, 12% from before 1961. Set beside that, 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns. Gibsons sits close to the norm on households in buildings of five or more storeys: 0.2%, about the same as across Canada’s towns.
Households here have a median income of $70,000 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
Half of Gibsons’s households had a total income below $70,000, 19% under the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). The median across British Columbia’s towns is $87,000. 24% of income recipients received COVID-19 emergency or recovery benefits (typical: 28%).
Above 82% of Canadian towns: 16% of residents lived at another address a year earlier
Immigrants, newcomers and movers.
Immigrants, by continent of birth · share of all residents; the bar runs to 25%
When immigrants arrived · share of immigrants
Citizenship and moving · share of residents
17% of immigrants arrived between 2011 and 2021, against 27% across Canada’s towns. Set beside that, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns. The share of immigrants stands at 21%.
Above 74% of Canadian towns: 5.8% of residents have an Indigenous identity
Visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion, as residents answered the census.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
The figure for visible minority residents is 11% in Gibsons and 15% across Canada’s towns. The wider picture: 2.8% of residents have an Indigenous identity across Canada’s towns.
84% have English as their mother tongue; 8.3% 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
5% most often speak a language other than English or French at home, and 0.4% speak neither official language. At 1.7%, the share of residents whose mother tongue is French is in line with the figure across Canada’s towns.
34% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, more than in 63% of Canadian towns
From no certificate to a master’s: residents 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
4.9% have no certificate, diploma or degree (typical: 9.5%). Measured more widely, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
52% 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 labour rates, in brief. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
Across Canada’s towns the typical rate is 58%, above this 52%; 35% of residents are 65 or over.
4th highest median age among 41 towns of 5,007 to 5,174
Median age of the Canadian towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
The span goes from 31.6 (River-Osborne) up to 61.6 (Northern Bruce Peninsula). The closest ages to Gibsons’s belong to Annapolis County, Subdivision B (54.4), Morin-Heights (54.4), Cobble Hill (58.8) and Saint-Donat (60.4).
No nearby town is as old as Gibsons
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each links to its own page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gibsons | 5,090 | — | 56 | 35% | 21% |
| Electoral Area E, Sunshine Coast | 4,279 | 2.3 km | 50.8 | 26% | 15% |
| Electoral Area F, Sunshine Coast | 2,691 | 4.0 km | 55.6 | 31% | 19% |
| Roberts Creek | 3,779 | 8.6 km | 51.2 | 28% | 14% |
| Bowen Island | 4,501 | 12.0 km | 50 | 25% | 23% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The census’s own words. Indigenous identity, immigrant status and religion are as residents answered them. “Visible minority” follows the Employment Equity Act, meaning people other than Indigenous peoples who are non-white in colour or race. We compare these figures across towns; none is a label for a town.
- Against British Columbia’s towns and Canada’s towns. A figure here is set beside two middles, the median across British Columbia’s places of 2,500 people or more and the median across all Canadian towns that size; reserves and entire cities are excluded from both.
- What these tables don’t give. For origins the charts stop at visible minority and Indigenous identity, and the Census Profile has nothing on unpaid care, cars or the internet, or on change by age since 2016.
Questions about Gibsons’s residents
How diverse is Gibsons?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 17% are immigrants; here, 21%. A visible minority makes up 11% and Indigenous residents 5.8%.
What religion are people in Gibsons?
Most often Christian (33%) or no religion (61%); other religions make up 5.5%.
Is Gibsons good for families?
Children under 15 are 11% of residents, against 16% across Canada’s towns. Couple families make up 43% of households and one-parent families 8.3%. Schools near Gibsons are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Gibsons?
Median total household income in Gibsons was $70,000 in 2020, against a median of $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Gibsons?
The latest figure is an estimate: 5,090 residents in July 2025. At the 2021 Census, Gibsons counted 4,758, 3% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Gibsons?
Half the residents are older than 56 and half younger, older than 96% of Canadian towns; 11% are children under 15 and 35% are 65 or over.
Is Gibsons bilingual?
English and French: 8.3% speak both (Canada’s towns: 7.5%). English only: 91%. French only: 0%. French mother tongue: 1.7%.
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).