Photo: Sidney Museum · CC BY-SA 3.0Older than 99% of Canadian towns: half of Sidney is over 62
Set against 16% across Canada’s towns, nearly one in ten residents are under 15 in Sidney. This British Columbia town is home to some 13,445 people (July 2025 estimate), in 5,980 households at the 2021 Census. 39% of households are one person living alone. At 35%, the share of households in single-detached houses is lower than in 81% of Canadian towns.
What stands out about the people of Sidney
Older than most towns
Half of Sidney’s residents are under 62 and half over; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 45% are 65 or over, against 19% across Canada’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
+6% since 2016, a pace 59% of Canadian towns didn’t match
The 2021 Census is the source of every figure here unless a date says otherwise. The census counts of 2016 and 2021, the estimate after them, and the change set beside other towns.
Change, 2016 to 2021
The median across Canada’s towns is +4%, and across British Columbia’s towns +6%. By July 2025, the estimate had risen a further 9%.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 45% in Sidney, more than in 99% of Canadian towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
No age band is larger than 70–74: one in ten residents, 2 times the share across Canada’s towns. By way of comparison, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns. Residents aged 15 to 24: 6.4% of the total.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Sidney, 62. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
55% women, 45% men
About 81 men for every 100 women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Sidney 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.
The figure for one-parent families is 5.7% in Sidney and 8.2% across Canada’s towns.
Sidney ranks below 66% of Canadian towns on common-law partners: 8.8%
Marital status of residents 15 and over, with common-law couples counted apart.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
In Sidney, half of residents 15 and over are married, beside 46% across Canada’s towns. Common-law partners make up 11% across Canada’s towns.
More households in buildings of five or more storeys than 70% of Canadian towns: 3.5%
Houses and apartments, owners and renters, older and newer homes. 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
21% of homes were built in 2001 or later, more than the 5.2% built before 1961. In Sidney, 23% of households rent their home, beside 25% across Canada’s towns.
The median household brings in $77,000 a year
Census incomes cover 2020, when emergency benefits like CERB lifted many households’ totals. Household income before tax: the median, and households by income group.
Households by income · share of households
The middle household in Sidney had $77,000 before tax, 10% below the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Household incomes across British Columbia’s towns have a median of $87,000. In 2020, 17% of income recipients drew a COVID-19 emergency or recovery benefit; the typical town had 28%.
Immigrants make up 23% in Sidney, more than in 60% of Canadian towns
Immigrants by continent of birth and when they arrived, citizenship, and who moved in recently.
Immigrants, by continent of birth · share of all residents; the bar runs to 30%
When immigrants arrived · share of immigrants
Citizenship and moving · share of residents
The largest groups of immigrants were born in Europe (58%) and in Asia (22%). The comparison figure for immigrants is 17% across Canada’s towns. Sidney has more residents who moved in within the year than 61% of Canadian towns, at 12%. Most recent wave: 15% of immigrants arrived in 2011–2021 (Canada’s towns: 27%).
Sidney sits above 89% of Canadian towns for residents with no religion (52%)
Visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion, as residents answered the census.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Visible minority residents: 8.9% here and 15% across Canada’s towns. Residents with no religion: 35% across Canada’s towns, for comparison. On the census count, 3.4% of residents have an Indigenous identity.
English is the mother tongue of 87%, and 7.8% speak French as well
English, French and the other languages people grew up with or speak at home.
Can hold a conversation in · share of all residents
Mother tongue · share of all residents
The census found that 1.6% of residents have French as their mother tongue in Sidney.
A smaller share of degree holders aged 25 to 64 than 52% of Canadian towns: 26%
From no certificate to a master’s: residents 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Across Canada’s towns, 27% of 25- to 64-year-olds hold a degree; in Sidney, 26%, and 37% have a college or trades credential (typical: 29%). Those with no credential make up 6.4%, next to 9.5% in the typical town.
A job for 45% of residents aged 15 and over
Counted in May 2021, during COVID-19, these rates catch the job market before it had recovered. The census’s work rates at a glance. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
The employment rate of 45% is below the typical 58% across Canada’s towns; 45% of residents are 65 or over.
The 1st oldest of 41 towns of 13,169 to 13,710 people
Similar-sized towns by median age; each dot is a town.
Redstone is the youngest of them at 32; Sidney, at 62, the oldest. The towns whose median age is nearest to Sidney’s: Montcalm (53.6) and Vanier (54.5).
Among its 6 nearest neighbours, 1 are older than Sidney
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each links to its own page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sidney | 13,445 | — | 62 | 45% | 23% |
| North Saanich | 12,986 | 2.4 km | 56.8 | 35% | 17% |
| East Saanich 2 | 1,962 | 7.4 km | 64 | 47% | 0% |
| Central Saanich | 18,184 | 9.4 km | 49.6 | 27% | 16% |
| Electoral Area A, Cowichan Valley | 5,156 | 11.2 km | 54 | 29% | 17% |
| Cobble Hill | 5,074 | 13.4 km | 58.8 | 38% | 16% |
| Highlands | 2,753 | 15.5 km | 45.6 | 18% | 12% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What these tables don’t give. Missing from the census as published: unpaid care, cars and internet access, and the shift in each age band since 2016. Ethnic origins past visible minority and Indigenous identity aren’t charted here.
- 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.
Questions about Sidney’s residents
What is the population of Sidney?
The latest figure is an estimate: 13,445 residents in July 2025. At the 2021 Census, Sidney counted 12,318, 6% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Sidney?
Half the residents are older than 62 and half younger, older than 99% of Canadian towns; 8.8% are children under 15 and 45% are 65 or over.
Is Sidney bilingual?
Both official languages are spoken by 7.8% of residents, against a typical 7.5% across Canada’s towns. 92% speak only English and 0% only French; 1.6% grew up with French.
How diverse is Sidney?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 17% are immigrants; here, 23%. A visible minority makes up 8.9% and Indigenous residents 3.4%.
What religion are people in Sidney?
Most often Christian (45%) or no religion (52%); other religions make up 2.6%.
Is Sidney good for families?
Children under 15 are 8.8% of residents, against 16% across Canada’s towns. Couple families make up 48% of households and one-parent families 5.7%. Schools near Sidney are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Sidney?
Median total household income in Sidney was $77,000 in 2020, against a median of $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
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).