Photo: Diablo2003 · Public domainBathurst is older than 92% of Canadian towns: a median age of 53.2
In Bathurst the average household is 2 people, beside 2.4 across Canada’s towns. The town is home to some 13,331 people (July 2025 estimate), in 5,825 households at the 2021 Census. Census figures put children under 15 at 11% here. On renter households, Bathurst sits higher than 74% of Canadian towns: 40%.
What stands out about the people of Bathurst
A bilingual town
Both official languages: 60% of residents speak English and French, more than in 95% of Canadian towns. Another 7.5% 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 53.2; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 31% are 65 or over, against 19% across Canada’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
In Bathurst, 60% of residents speak English and French, more than in 95% of Canadian towns
Figures are from the 2021 Census unless dated otherwise. 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
At home: English 58%, French 38%. On residents whose mother tongue is French, Bathurst sits higher than just over four fifths of Canadian towns: 47%. Typically, 7.5% of residents speak English and French across Canada’s towns.
Slower growth than 63% of Canadian towns: Bathurst changed by +2% since 2016
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 +3% across New Brunswick’s towns. Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025 is 10% higher again.
More residents aged 65 and over than 94% of Canadian towns: 31%
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 9.6% here and 11% across Canada’s towns. No age band is larger than 55–59: nearly one in ten residents. Measured more widely, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Bathurst, 53.2. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
39% of households are one person living alone, more than in 86% of Canadian towns
Who shares a home: household types and sizes.
Against New Brunswick’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
Here, 7.9% of households are one-parent families. For comparison, 27% of households are one person living alone across Canada’s towns.
14% of residents 15 and over live common-law, a share 72% of Canadian towns don’t reach
Marital status of residents 15 and over, with common-law couples counted apart.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns, against 39% in Bathurst. The share of common-law partners across Canada’s towns is 11%.
A smaller share of households in single-detached houses than 59% of Canadian towns: 57%
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
Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in nearly three quarters of Canadian towns. Set beside that, 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns. Older homes outnumber new: 25% predate 1961, 12% date from 2001 or later.
Median gross household income: $54,800 a year
Census incomes are for 2020, the year before the census, when CERB and other pandemic benefits topped up many households. Income per household, before tax, with the groups it falls into.
Households by income · share of households
Household incomes run lower in Bathurst: half had less than $54,800, 36% under the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). The figure for New Brunswick’s towns: $73,300. COVID-19 benefits went to 24% of residents with an income (typical: 28%).
Bathurst ranks above 60% of Canadian towns on residents who moved in within the year: 12%
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 20%
When immigrants arrived · share of immigrants
Citizenship and moving · share of residents
The largest groups of immigrants were born in Asia (41%) and in Europe (29%). Bathurst has fewer immigrants than 84% of Canadian towns, at 4.4%. The benchmark for residents who moved in within the year across Canada’s towns: 11%. 44% of immigrants arrived between 2011 and 2021, against 27% across Canada’s towns.
In Bathurst, 19% of residents said they have no religion, fewer than in 88% of Canadian towns
Residents’ own answers on visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
6.1% of residents belong to a visible minority (Canada’s towns: 15%). Set beside that, just over a third of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns. Indigenous identity: 3.8% (2.8%).
In Bathurst, 21% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, fewer than in 66% of Canadian towns
The highest diploma or degree of adults of working age (25 to 64).
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
No certificate at all: 13%, against 9.5%. Across Canada’s towns, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher.
44% of adults were employed in May 2021
The census was taken in May 2021, during the pandemic, so these rates show a labour market still recovering. The census’s work rates at a glance. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
With 31% of residents 65 or over, the employment rate of 44% sits under the typical 58% across Canada’s towns.
Ranked by age, 4th oldest of 41 towns this size
Similar-sized towns by median age; each dot is a town.
The youngest is Redstone (32) and the oldest Sidney (62). The towns whose median age is nearest to Bathurst’s: Dolbeau-Mistassini (50.8), Semiahmoo Town Centre (52.9), Montcalm (53.6) and Vanier (54.5).
Bathurst is younger than 2 of its 5 nearest neighbours
Places nearby, shaded by median age, each linked to its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bathurst | 13,331 | — | 53.2 | 31% | 4.4% |
| Bathurst | 4,840 | 7.4 km | 52.4 | 27% | 1.6% |
| Beresford | 4,389 | 8.7 km | 54.4 | 30% | 1.5% |
| Nigadoo | 1,102 | 13.2 km | 50 | 25% | 2% |
| Beresford | 6,543 | 15.9 km | 50.8 | 23% | 0.9% |
| Petit-Rocher | 2,019 | 18.2 km | 56 | 33% | 1.3% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. Provincial and national yardsticks: New Brunswick’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.
- What these tables don’t give. For origins the charts stop at visible minority and Indigenous identity, and the Census Profile has nothing on unpaid care, cars or the internet, or on change by age since 2016.
Questions about Bathurst’s residents
How diverse is Bathurst?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 17% are immigrants; here, 4.4%. A visible minority makes up 6.1% and Indigenous residents 3.8%.
What religion are people in Bathurst?
Most often Christian (79%) or no religion (19%); other religions make up 2.2%.
Is Bathurst good for families?
Children under 15 are 11% of residents, against 16% across Canada’s towns. Couple families make up 45% of households and one-parent families 7.9%. Schools near Bathurst are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Bathurst?
Median total household income in Bathurst was $54,800 in 2020, against a median of $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Bathurst?
The latest figure is an estimate: 13,331 residents in July 2025. At the 2021 Census, Bathurst counted 12,157, 2% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Bathurst?
Half the residents are older than 53.2 and half younger, older than 92% of Canadian towns; 11% are children under 15 and 31% are 65 or over.
Is Bathurst bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 60% are. Another 7.5% speak only French and 32% only English, and French is the first language of 47%.
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).