Older than 87% of Canadian towns: half of Electoral Area E, Sunshine Coast is over 50.8
Across Canada’s towns, the share of residents with no religion is 35%; Electoral Area E, Sunshine Coast has 66%. Residents aged 15 to 24: 7.7% of the total. Few places have as many households in single-detached houses: 90% here, more than in 89% of Canadian towns. Some 4,279 people live locally, by the estimate for July 2025.
What stands out about the people of Electoral Area E, Sunshine Coast
Older than most towns
Line Electoral Area E, Sunshine Coast’s residents up by age and the one in the middle is 50.8; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 26% are 65 or over, against 19% across Canada’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Faster growth than 62% of Canadian towns: Electoral Area E, Sunshine Coast changed by +6% since 2016
Unless a figure says otherwise, it is from the 2021 Census. Residents at the 2016 and 2021 censuses and the latest estimate, with the 2016–2021 change beside other towns.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Across Canada’s towns the median change is +4%; across British Columbia’s towns, +6%. By July 2025, the estimate had risen a further 10%.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 26% in Electoral Area E, Sunshine Coast, more than in 83% of Canadian towns
Every five-year age group as a share of residents; ticks mark the typical town.
Where 16% of residents are under 15 across Canada’s towns, Electoral Area E, Sunshine Coast has 15%. To put it in context, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Electoral Area E, Sunshine Coast, 50.8. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women.
Electoral Area E, Sunshine Coast households average 2.4 people, smaller than in 53% 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 share of one-parent families is 5.9%, against 8.2% across Canada’s towns. One-person households: 27% of the total.
More common-law partners than 72% of Canadian towns: 14%
How adults live as couples, or don’t, with common-law unions shown on their own.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Married residents 15 and over: 49% here and 46% across Canada’s towns. Common-law partners: 11% across Canada’s towns, for comparison.
A smaller share of renter households than 68% of Canadian towns: 18%
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: 21% date from 2001 or later, 9.3% from before 1961. By way of comparison, 25% of households rent their home across Canada’s towns. Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in nearly three quarters of Canadian towns.
Median household income here: $87,000 a year
The census asked about income in 2020: a pandemic year, with CERB and other emergency benefits counted in. What households took in before tax, at the middle and across income groups.
Households by income · share of households
At $87,000, the middle household in Electoral Area E, Sunshine Coast earned close to the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). For British Columbia’s towns, the median household income is $87,000. Pandemic benefits reached 23% of residents with an income, against a typical 28%.
Electoral Area E, Sunshine Coast ranks above 69% of Canadian towns on residents who moved in within the year: 13%
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
By its share of residents without Canadian citizenship (3.3%), Electoral Area E, Sunshine Coast is below 63% of Canadian towns. Across the comparison, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns. Immigrants here were most often born in Europe (60%), then in the Americas (18%).
A larger share of Indigenous residents than 74% of Canadian towns: 5.9%
Visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion, as residents answered the census.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Against a figure of 15% across Canada’s towns, the share of visible minority residents in Electoral Area E, Sunshine Coast comes in at 7.6%. Across the comparison, 2.8% of residents have an Indigenous identity across Canada’s towns.
91% have English as their mother tongue; 6.6% 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
For Electoral Area E, Sunshine Coast, the census puts residents whose mother tongue is French at 1.4%.
23% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, fewer than in 58% of Canadian towns
From no certificate to a master’s: residents 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Holding no credential: 9.5% (typical 9.5%). The usual figure: 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
Employment: 54% of residents 15 and over had a job
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.
With 26% of residents 65 or over, the employment rate of 54% sits under the typical 58% across Canada’s towns.
Of 41 towns its size (4,201 to 4,355 people), the 10th oldest
Towns of about this size, placed by median age.
Between Fraipont (33.6) and Claresholm (56.8) lies the rest of the group. Closest in median age to Electoral Area E, Sunshine Coast are La Pocatière (50.4), Lantzville (50.8), Electoral Area E, Central Kootenay (51.2) and Downtown (51.4).
Electoral Area E, Sunshine Coast sits below 4 of its 5 closest neighbours on median age
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each links to its own page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area E, Sunshine Coast | 4,279 | — | 50.8 | 26% | 15% |
| Gibsons | 5,090 | 2.3 km | 56 | 35% | 21% |
| Electoral Area F, Sunshine Coast | 2,691 | 6.0 km | 55.6 | 31% | 19% |
| Roberts Creek | 3,779 | 6.7 km | 51.2 | 28% | 14% |
| Bowen Island | 4,501 | 13.9 km | 50 | 25% | 23% |
| Sechelt | 11,558 | 18.2 km | 57.6 | 37% | 23% |
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. In the census, “visible minority” is the Employment Equity Act’s term for people who are non-white in colour or race and not Indigenous. Like immigrant status, Indigenous identity and religion, which residents reported themselves, it is compared with other towns, never turned into a label.
- Against British Columbia’s towns and Canada’s towns. Provincial and national yardsticks: British Columbia’s towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents, and all Canadian towns of that size. No whole city and no First Nations reserve is in either median.
Questions about Electoral Area E, Sunshine Coast’s residents
What religion are people in Electoral Area E, Sunshine Coast?
31% are Christian and 66% have no religion; 3.8% follow another religion.
Is Electoral Area E, Sunshine Coast good for families?
Under 15: 15% (Canada’s towns: 16%). Couple families: 55% of households. One-parent families: 5.9%. Schools near Electoral Area E, Sunshine Coast are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Electoral Area E, Sunshine Coast?
The median household in Electoral Area E, Sunshine Coast took in $87,000 in 2020, against $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Electoral Area E, Sunshine Coast?
Electoral Area E, Sunshine Coast had about 4,279 residents in July 2025, Statistics Canada estimates; the 2021 Census counted 3,883, 6% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Electoral Area E, Sunshine Coast?
A median age of 50.8, older than 87% of Canadian towns. Children under 15 make up 15%, and people 65 and over 26%.
Is Electoral Area E, Sunshine Coast bilingual?
English and French: 6.6% speak both (Canada’s towns: 7.5%). English only: 93%. French only: 0%. French mother tongue: 1.4%.
How diverse is Electoral Area E, Sunshine Coast?
15% of residents are immigrants (Canada’s towns: 17%); 7.6% belong to a visible minority and 5.9% have an Indigenous identity.
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).