A median age of 63.2: Electoral Area B, Nanaimo is older than 99% of Canadian towns
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 4.2%, against 11% across Canada’s towns. About 4,702 people lived in Electoral Area B, Nanaimo in July 2025, Statistics Canada estimates. For Electoral Area B, Nanaimo, the census puts residents with no religion at 67%. Households in single-detached houses are more common here than in 95% of Canadian towns.
What stands out about the people of Electoral Area B, Nanaimo
Older than most towns
Half of Electoral Area B, Nanaimo’s residents are under 63.2 and half over; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 44% are 65 or over, against 19% across Canada’s towns. Ages ↓
Growing faster than most
Between the 2016 and 2021 censuses, Electoral Area B, Nanaimo went from 4,033 to 4,500 residents (+12%), faster growth than in 86% of Canadian towns. Population change ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Growth of +12% since 2016 puts Electoral Area B, Nanaimo ahead of 86% 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
Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025 is 4% higher again.
44% of residents are 65 or over, a share 99% of Canadian towns don’t reach
Every five-year age group as a share of residents; ticks mark the typical town.
Against a figure of 16% across Canada’s towns, the share of children under 15 in Electoral Area B, Nanaimo comes in at 6.6%. As a reference point, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Electoral Area B, Nanaimo, 63.2. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 men for every 100 women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Households here average 1.9 people, below 94% 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.
One-person households: 36%, above 81% of Canadian towns. For Electoral Area B, Nanaimo, the census puts one-parent families at 4.2%.
A higher share of common-law partners than 73% of Canadian towns, at 14%
How adults live as couples, or don’t, with common-law unions shown on their own.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
18% of adults are single and have never married; the typical town has 27%. Census figures put married residents 15 and over at 49% in Electoral Area B, Nanaimo. The benchmark for common-law partners across Canada’s towns: 11%.
Renter households make up 11% in Electoral Area B, Nanaimo, less than in 85% of Canadian towns
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 nearly three quarters of Canadian towns. Newer homes outnumber old: 27% date from 2001 or later, 4.4% from before 1961. The usual figure: 25% of households rent their home across Canada’s towns.
Household income at the median: $60,400 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
Electoral Area B, Nanaimo’s median household took in $60,400 before tax, 30% less than the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Within British Columbia’s towns, the household in the middle had $87,000. Emergency and recovery benefits reached 20% of those with an income, beside a typical 28%.
Electoral Area B, Nanaimo ranks below 82% of Canadian towns on residents who moved in within the year: 8%
Birthplaces and arrival years of immigrants, citizenship and recent moves.
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
20% of residents are immigrants, against 17% across Canada’s towns. The largest groups of immigrants were born in Europe (64%) and in the Americas (22%). By way of comparison, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns.
3.4% of residents have an Indigenous identity, more than in 57% of Canadian towns
Residents’ own answers on visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Visible minority residents make up 1.3%, against 15% across Canada’s towns. The wider picture: 2.8% of residents have an Indigenous identity across Canada’s towns.
Bilingual residents: 10%, a higher share than 61% of Canadian towns
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
In Electoral Area B, Nanaimo, 1.6% of residents have French as their mother tongue. Elsewhere, 7.5% of residents speak English and French across Canada’s towns.
Electoral Area B, Nanaimo sits above 62% of Canadian towns for degree holders aged 25 to 64 (34%)
The highest diploma or degree of adults of working age (25 to 64).
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
5.5% have no certificate, diploma or degree (typical: 9.5%). Elsewhere, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
Employment: 39% of residents 15 and over had a job
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.
The employment rate of 39% is below the typical 58% across Canada’s towns; 44% of residents are 65 or over.
Oldest by rank: 1st of 41 towns of 4,598 to 4,808 people
Towns of about this size, placed by median age.
The youngest of these towns is Pembina Strip, at 31; the oldest, Electoral Area B, Nanaimo, is at 63.2. Guysborough (58.4) and Sutton (60.4): the towns nearest Electoral Area B, Nanaimo in median age.
No nearby town is as old as Electoral Area B, Nanaimo
Places nearby, shaded by median age, each linked to its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area B, Nanaimo | 4,702 | — | 63.2 | 44% | 20% |
| Electoral Area A, Nanaimo | 7,825 | 9.5 km | 51.2 | 25% | 9.9% |
| Nanaimo | 111,845 | 14.5 km | 45.2 | 25% | 16% |
| Electoral Area H, Cowichan Valley | 2,761 | 16.3 km | 56 | 32% | 11% |
| Electoral Area C, Nanaimo | 3,733 | 17.8 km | 46.8 | 20% | 11% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- The census’s own words. The census takes “visible minority” from the Employment Equity Act: anyone other than Indigenous peoples who is non-white in colour or race. Indigenous identity, immigrant status and religion are what residents reported, compared here with other towns and never used as a label.
- 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 Electoral Area B, Nanaimo’s residents
What is the average age in Electoral Area B, Nanaimo?
The median age is 63.2, older than 99% of Canadian towns. 6.6% are under 15 and 44% 65 or older.
Is Electoral Area B, Nanaimo bilingual?
English and French: 10% speak both (Canada’s towns: 7.5%). English only: 90%. French only: 0%. French mother tongue: 1.6%.
How diverse is Electoral Area B, Nanaimo?
Immigrants: 20% (Canada’s towns: 17%). Visible minority: 1.3%. Indigenous identity: 3.4%.
What religion are people in Electoral Area B, Nanaimo?
67% said they have no religion and 29% that they are Christian; 3.4% named another faith.
Is Electoral Area B, Nanaimo good for families?
6.6% of residents are under 15 (Canada’s towns: 16%); couple families are 51% of households and one-parent families 4.2%. Schools near Electoral Area B, Nanaimo are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Electoral Area B, Nanaimo?
Half of Electoral Area B, Nanaimo’s households had more than $60,400 in 2020, before tax; across Canada’s towns the median was $86,000.
What is the population of Electoral Area B, Nanaimo?
About 4,702, by Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025. The 2021 Census found 4,500 people in Electoral Area B, Nanaimo, 12% more than 2016.
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).