Photo: David Stanley from Nanaimo, Canada · CC BY 2.0Residents with no religion make up 69% in Shawnigan, more than in 99% of Canadian towns
Most recent wave: 15% of immigrants arrived in 2011–2021 (Canada’s towns: 27%). Renter households account for 13%. Nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier, a lower share than in 76% of Canadian towns. There are 5% more residents than in 2016. Statistics Canada counts Shawnigan as part of Cowichan Valley B: the figures on this page are the municipality’s.
Shawnigan grew +5% from 2016 to 2021, faster than 57% of Canadian towns
Every figure here comes from the 2021 Census unless it carries another date. Two census counts, five years apart, and Statistics Canada’s newest estimate.
Change, 2016 to 2021
For comparison, the median is +4% across Canada’s towns and +6% across British Columbia’s towns. Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025 is 10% higher again.
Half of Shawnigan is over 44.4, older than 64% of Canadian towns
Age bands of five years, the town’s bars against the typical town’s ticks.
Set against 11% across Canada’s towns, one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24 in Shawnigan. The largest age band is 55–59: nearly one in ten residents. Among British Columbia’s towns, Qualicum Beach has the highest share aged 65 or over, at 56%.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Shawnigan, 44.4. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split.
A smaller share of one-person households than 75% of Canadian towns: 20%
Who shares a home: household types and sizes.
Against British Columbia’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
At 2.6 people, the average household compares with 2.4 across Canada’s towns. For one-person households, the comparison across Canada’s towns is 27%. The census found that 7.4% of households are one-parent families in Shawnigan.
Shawnigan: 14% of residents 15 and over live common-law, above 72% of Canadian towns
Residents 15 and over by marital status; the census counts common-law couples separately.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Just over half of residents 15 and over are married; across Canada’s towns the figure is 46%. For common-law partners, the comparison across Canada’s towns is 11%.
88% of households live in a single-detached house, more than in 86% of Canadian towns
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
Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in 74% of Canadian towns. Newer homes outnumber old: 29% date from 2001 or later, 8.1% from before 1961. As a reference point, 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns.
The midpoint household income is $99,000 a year
Census incomes cover 2020, when emergency benefits like CERB lifted many households’ totals. Total household income: the median household, and the spread from low to high.
Households by income · share of households
At $99,000, the middle household in Shawnigan out-earned the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000) by 15%. The median across British Columbia’s towns is $87,000. The pandemic’s benefits: 24% of income recipients, against 28% in the typical town.
8.5% of residents are immigrants
Immigrants, newcomers and movers.
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
Residents without Canadian citizenship make up 2.5%, against 5.8% across Canada’s towns. Most immigrants were born in Europe (61%) or in the Americas (21%). Fewer immigrants than in 68% of Canadian towns: 8.5%.
Shawnigan ranks above 76% of Canadian towns on Indigenous residents: 6.3%
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 3.6%, against 15% across Canada’s towns. The usual figure: 2.8% of residents have an Indigenous identity across Canada’s towns.
English is the mother tongue of 94%, and 7.4% speak French as well
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
1% of residents have French as their mother tongue, about the same as across Canada’s towns.
Fewer degree holders aged 25 to 64 than 70% of Canadian towns: 19%
The highest diploma or degree of adults of working age (25 to 64).
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
No diploma or degree: 7.8% here, 9.5% in the typical town. As a yardstick, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
An employment rate of 62%
The census counted work in May 2021, mid-pandemic, so read these rates as a pandemic snapshot. The census’s labour rates, in brief. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
At 62%, more residents are in work than the typical 58% across Canada’s towns.
In its size band (9,742 to 10,072), the 15th oldest of 41 towns
Median age of the Canadian towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
The group spans Stanley, youngest at 25.6, to Blind Bay, oldest at 58.8. Maple Leaf (43.3), Mineola (44.4), River Valley Oleskiw (46.2) and Mono (47.2): the towns nearest Shawnigan in median age.
5 in 6 nearby towns have a higher median age than Shawnigan
Places nearby, shaded by median age, each linked to its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shawnigan | 9,903 | — | 44.4 | 18% | 8.5% |
| Electoral Area A, Cowichan Valley | 5,156 | 6.6 km | 54 | 29% | 17% |
| Cobble Hill | 5,074 | 7.0 km | 58.8 | 38% | 16% |
| Cowichan Bay | 3,713 | 9.6 km | 51.6 | 27% | 14% |
| Cowichan | 2,509 | 13.3 km | 30.2 | 9.3% | 0% |
| Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley | 4,482 | 13.4 km | 46 | 21% | 7.7% |
| Duncan | 5,745 | 14.7 km | 55.6 | 36% | 11% |
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. 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.
- 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.
Questions about Shawnigan’s residents
What religion are people in Shawnigan?
69% said they have no religion and 29% that they are Christian; 2.8% named another faith.
Is Shawnigan good for families?
17% of residents are under 15 (Canada’s towns: 16%); couple families are 58% of households and one-parent families 7.4%. Schools near Shawnigan are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Shawnigan?
Half of Shawnigan’s households had more than $99,000 in 2020, before tax; across Canada’s towns the median was $86,000.
What is the population of Shawnigan?
About 9,903, by Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025. The 2021 Census found 8,994 people in Shawnigan, 5% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Shawnigan?
The median age is 44.4, older than 64% of Canadian towns. 17% are under 15 and 18% 65 or older.
Is Shawnigan bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 7.4% are. Another 0% speak only French and 93% only English, and French is the first language of 1%.
How diverse is Shawnigan?
Immigrants: 8.5% (Canada’s towns: 17%). Visible minority: 3.6%. Indigenous identity: 6.3%.
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).