Photo: Blake Handley from Victoria, Canada · CC BY 2.0A median age of 51.2: North Cowichan is older than 88% of Canadian towns
Set against 2.8% across Canada’s towns, nearly one in ten residents have an Indigenous identity in North Cowichan. Some 34,525 people live locally, by the estimate for July 2025. The share of residents aged 15 to 24 stands at 8.9%. This British Columbia town has more residents who moved in within the year than 64% of Canadian towns, at 13%.
What stands out about the people of North Cowichan
Older than most towns
Half of North Cowichan’s residents are under 51.2 and half over; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 29% are 65 or over, against 19% across Canada’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
+8% since 2016, a pace 71% of Canadian towns didn’t match
Figures are from the 2021 Census unless dated otherwise. How the population moved between the last two censuses, and since.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Across Canada’s towns the median change is +4%; across British Columbia’s towns, +6%.
29% of residents are 65 or over, a share 90% of Canadian towns don’t reach
Every five-year age group as a share of residents; ticks mark the typical town.
Across Canada’s towns, the share of children under 15 is 16%; North Cowichan has 14%. Set beside that, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ North Cowichan, 51.2. 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.
Smaller households than 64% of Canadian towns: 2.3 people on average
Households by family type and by the number of people in them.
Against British Columbia’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
On the census count, 28% of households are one person living alone. North Cowichan has fewer one-parent families than just over three fifths of Canadian towns, at 7.6%.
North Cowichan sits above 57% of Canadian towns for married residents 15 and over (49%)
How adults live as couples, or don’t, with common-law unions shown on their own.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Single and never married: 22% of adults, against a typical 27%. In North Cowichan, 12% of residents 15 and over live common-law.
North Cowichan ranks below 55% of Canadian towns on renter households: 23%
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
Newer homes outnumber old: 25% date from 2001 or later, 15% from before 1961. Single-detached houses hold 63% of households, less than in 52% of Canadian towns, and buildings of five or more storeys 0.1%.
Household income, middle of the range: $78,500 a year
Census incomes are for 2020, the year before the census, when CERB and other pandemic benefits topped up many households. Total household income: the median household, and the spread from low to high.
Households by income · share of households
Half of North Cowichan’s households had a total income below $78,500, 9% under the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). The median across British Columbia’s towns is $87,000. COVID-19 benefits went to 23% of residents with an income (typical: 28%).
14% of residents are immigrants
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
The largest groups of immigrants were born in Europe (54%) and in Asia (25%). Most recent wave: 18% of immigrants arrived in 2011–2021 (Canada’s towns: 27%).
More residents with no religion than 95% of Canadian towns: 58%
Identity and faith, in the census’s categories.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Visible minority residents: 8.6%, below three fifths of Canadian towns. By way of comparison, just over a third of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns.
90% have English as their mother tongue; 6% 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
Where 7.5% of residents speak English and French across Canada’s towns, North Cowichan has 6%. At home: English 96%, French 0.2%. The town has fewer residents whose mother tongue is French than 71% of Canadian towns, at 1%.
Degree holders aged 25 to 64 make up 20% in North Cowichan, less than in 67% of Canadian towns
Education of residents 25 to 64, by highest credential.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
At the bottom of the ladder, 11% hold no certificate of any kind, against 9.5% in the typical town. Measured more widely, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
A job for 52% of residents aged 15 and over
May 2021 was still a pandemic month: the census’s work figures reflect that. Four labour figures from the census. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
Across Canada’s towns the typical rate is 58%, above this 52%; 29% of residents are 65 or over.
Oldest by rank: 2nd of 41 towns of 32,035 to 37,186 people
Towns of about this size, placed by median age.
DT Core is the youngest of them at 34.8; Sorel-Tracy, at 53.2, the oldest. Nearest to North Cowichan in age: Neufchatel Est—Lebourgneuf (47.1), Courtenay (48.8) and Sorel-Tracy (53.2).
Among its 6 nearest neighbours, 4 are older than North Cowichan
Neighbouring places and their median ages; each name opens its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Cowichan | 34,525 | — | 51.2 | 29% | 14% |
| Duncan | 5,745 | 3.6 km | 55.6 | 36% | 11% |
| Cowichan | 2,509 | 4.8 km | 30.2 | 9.3% | 0% |
| Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley | 4,482 | 5.1 km | 46 | 21% | 7.7% |
| Cowichan Bay | 3,713 | 10.0 km | 51.6 | 27% | 14% |
| Saltspring Island | 12,429 | 14.5 km | 56.4 | 35% | 22% |
| Cobble Hill | 5,074 | 15.6 km | 58.8 | 38% | 16% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. Unpaid care, car ownership and internet access aren’t in the Census Profile, nor is the change by age since 2016. Ethnic origins other than visible minority and Indigenous identity are left out of the charts.
- 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.
Questions about North Cowichan’s residents
Is North Cowichan good for families?
Across Canada’s towns, a typical 16% of residents are under 15; here, 14%. 52% of households are couple families and 7.6% one-parent families. Schools near North Cowichan are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in North Cowichan?
$78,500 before tax, in 2020: the middle household’s income in North Cowichan (Canada’s towns: $86,000).
What is the population of North Cowichan?
Statistics Canada estimates 34,525 residents for July 2025; the 2021 Census counted 31,990 in North Cowichan, 8% more than 2016.
What is the average age in North Cowichan?
51.2 is the median age, older than 88% of Canadian towns. Under 15: 14%. 65 and over: 29%.
Is North Cowichan bilingual?
6% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 0% speak French only and 94% English only. French is the mother tongue of 1%.
How diverse is North Cowichan?
Immigrants make up 14% of residents, against 17% across Canada’s towns. 8.6% are members of a visible minority, and 9.1% are First Nations, Métis or Inuit.
What religion are people in North Cowichan?
Christian: 38%. No religion: 58%. Another religion: 4.3%.
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).