Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainOlder than 91% of Canadian towns: half of Bathurst is over 52.4
Compared with 25% across Canada’s towns, 8.3% of households rent their home here. Bathurst is home to some 4,840 people (July 2025 estimate), in 2,105 households at the 2021 Census. The census found that 6.3% of residents lived at another address a year earlier locally. 18% of residents said they have no religion, a lower share than in 90% of Canadian towns.
What stands out about the people of Bathurst
A bilingual town
Both official languages: 63% of residents speak English and French, more than in 96% of Canadian towns. Another 5.3% speak only French and 32% only English. English & French ↓
Older than most towns
Line Bathurst’s residents up by age and the one in the middle is 52.4; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 27% are 65 or over, against 19% across Canada’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
In Bathurst, 63% of residents speak English and French, more than in 96% of Canadian towns
All figures are the 2021 Census’s unless another date is shown. 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
At home: English 60%, French 37%. Across Canada’s towns, 7.5% of residents speak English and French. On residents whose mother tongue is French, Bathurst sits higher than just over four fifths of Canadian towns: 47%.
−1% since 2016: slower than 84% of Canadian towns
The census counts of 2016 and 2021, the estimate after them, and the change set beside other towns.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Medians for comparison: +4% across Canada’s towns; +3% across New Brunswick’s towns. By July 2025, the estimate had risen a further 2%.
Fewer children under 15 than 92% of Canadian towns: 11%
Every five-year age group as a share of residents; ticks mark the typical town.
8.2% of residents are aged 15 to 24 (Canada’s towns: 11%). For Bathurst, the census puts residents aged 65 and over at 27%.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Bathurst, 52.4. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split.
Only 22% of households are one person living alone in Bathurst
Household types, then household sizes.
Against New Brunswick’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
Set against 8.2% across Canada’s towns, 6.2% of households are one-parent families in Bathurst. By way of comparison, 27% of households are one person living alone across Canada’s towns. Households average 2.3 people.
Bathurst sits above 80% of Canadian towns for common-law partners (17%)
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: 20% of adults, against a typical 27%. Across the comparison, 11% of residents 15 and over live common-law across Canada’s towns.
Households in single-detached houses make up 95% in Bathurst, more than in 96% 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
Just over one in ten homes were built in 2001 or later, more than the 12% built before 1961. Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in nearly three quarters of Canadian towns. As a yardstick, 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns.
Household income, middle of the range: $72,500 a year
Incomes are 2020’s, the census’s reference year, and include pandemic benefits such as CERB. What households took in before tax, at the middle and across income groups.
Households by income · share of households
The median across Canada’s towns is $86,000; Bathurst’s, at $72,500, is 16% lower. New Brunswick’s towns have a median of $73,300. Pandemic payments such as CERB reached 23% of income recipients here, against 28% in the typical town.
1.6% 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
Across Canada’s towns, 17% of residents are immigrants; in Bathurst, 1.6%. Here, 0.5% of residents are not Canadian citizens.
Indigenous residents make up 5.1% in Bathurst, more than in 71% of Canadian towns
Visible minority and Indigenous identity, then religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Here 0.7% of residents belong to a visible minority, where the figure across Canada’s towns is 15%. Indigenous residents: 2.8% across Canada’s towns, for comparison.
A lower share of degree holders aged 25 to 64 than 87% of Canadian towns, at 13%
Highest certificate, diploma or degree of residents aged 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
At the other end, 14% hold no certificate, diploma or degree, against a typical 9.5%. By way of comparison, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
Employment: 50% of residents 15 and over had a job
The census counted work in May 2021, mid-pandemic, so read these rates as a pandemic snapshot. Four labour figures from the census. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
At 50%, fewer residents are in work than the typical 58% across Canada’s towns, and 27% are 65 or over.
Of 41 towns its size (4,732 to 4,939 people), the 5th oldest
Towns of about this size, placed by median age.
Median ages here range from 30.9 in Empire Park to 60.4 in Sutton. Next to Bathurst on this scale come Central Okanagan (51.6), Dundas (51.6), Marmora (56) and Rivière-Rouge (58).
Older than Bathurst: 3 of the 5 towns nearby
The closest towns, coloured by how old their residents are.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bathurst | 4,840 | — | 52.4 | 27% | 1.6% |
| Bathurst | 13,331 | 7.4 km | 53.2 | 31% | 4.4% |
| Beresford | 4,389 | 10.2 km | 54.4 | 30% | 1.5% |
| Nigadoo | 1,102 | 13.0 km | 50 | 25% | 2% |
| Beresford | 6,543 | 13.9 km | 50.8 | 23% | 0.9% |
| Petit-Rocher | 2,019 | 18.8 km | 56 | 33% | 1.3% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What these tables don’t give. Some things the page can’t show: the Census Profile asks nothing about unpaid care, cars or internet access, and gives no change by age since 2016. Ethnic origins beyond visible minority and Indigenous identity aren’t charted.
- 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 New Brunswick’s towns and Canada’s towns. For each measure we take the median of New Brunswick’s towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, then the median of all Canadian towns. Neither counts whole cities or reserves, and every percentile is a Canadian one.
Questions about Bathurst’s residents
What is the average age in Bathurst?
The median age is 52.4, older than 91% of Canadian towns. 11% are under 15 and 27% 65 or older.
Is Bathurst bilingual?
Both official languages are spoken by 63% of residents, against a typical 7.5% across Canada’s towns. 32% speak only English and 5.3% only French; 47% grew up with French.
How diverse is Bathurst?
Immigrants: 1.6% (Canada’s towns: 17%). Visible minority: 0.7%. Indigenous identity: 5.1%.
What religion are people in Bathurst?
18% said they have no religion and 82% that they are Christian; 0.1% named another faith.
Is Bathurst good for families?
11% of residents are under 15 (Canada’s towns: 16%); couple families are 64% of households and one-parent families 6.2%. Schools near Bathurst are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Bathurst?
Half of Bathurst’s households had more than $72,500 in 2020, before tax; across Canada’s towns the median was $86,000.
What is the population of Bathurst?
About 4,840, by Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025. The 2021 Census found 4,761 people in Bathurst, about the same as 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).