Photo: https://www.flickr.com/people/99116641@N00/ · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 52: Harbour Breton is older than 90% of Canadian towns
By its share of residents with no religion (4.8%), Harbour Breton is below 99% of Canadian towns. The town had about 1,481 residents in July 2025, by Statistics Canada’s estimate, and 635 households at the 2021 Census. Across Harbour Breton, 94% of households live in a single-detached house. Compared with other places, children under 15 are scarce here: 12%, fewer than in 88% of Canadian towns.
What stands out about the people of Harbour Breton
Fewer people than before
Between the 2016 and 2021 censuses, Harbour Breton went from 1,634 to 1,477 residents (−10%), slower growth than in 99% of Canadian towns. Population change ↓
Older than most towns
Harbour Breton’s median age is 52; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 25% are 65 or over, against 19% across Canada’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
−10% since 2016, a pace below 99% of Canadian towns
The 2021 Census is the source of every figure here unless a date says otherwise. Two census counts, five years apart, and Statistics Canada’s newest estimate.
Change, 2016 to 2021
The estimate for July 2025 is much the same as the census count. Across Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns the median is −2%, and across Canada’s towns +4%.
Residents aged 65 and over: 25%, a higher share than 80% of Canadian towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
The biggest five-year age group is 50–54, with 10% of residents, 1.6 times the share across Canada’s towns. Lower than in 82% of Canadian towns: 8.8% of residents are aged 15 to 24. The wider picture: 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
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.
Fewer one-person households than 69% of Canadian towns: 22%
Who shares a home: household types and sizes.
Against Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
Across Canada’s towns, households average 2.4 people; in Harbour Breton, 2.3. The wider picture: 27% of households are one person living alone across Canada’s towns. On the census count, 7.1% of households are one-parent families.
Harbour Breton: 58% of residents 15 and over are married, above 90% of Canadian towns
Marital status of residents 15 and over, with common-law couples counted apart.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Singles who have never married make up 20% of adults, beside a typical 27%. In Harbour Breton, 8.8% of residents 15 and over live common-law.
Renter households make up 20% in Harbour Breton, less than in 63% of Canadian towns
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
Just over a fifth of homes were built before 1961 and 9.4% in 2001 or later. To put it in context, a quarter of households rent their home across Canada’s towns. Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in 74% of Canadian towns.
$72,500 a year: where the middle household sits
Census incomes cover 2020, when emergency benefits like CERB lifted many households’ totals. Income per household, before tax, with the groups it falls into.
Households by income · share of households
The middle household in Harbour Breton had $72,500 before tax, 16% below the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). $63,600 is the median household income across Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns. Pandemic benefits reached 25% of residents with an income, against a typical 28%.
A lower share of residents who moved in within the year than 91% of Canadian towns, at 6.9%
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
Immigrants are rarer here than in 99% of Canadian towns. On average, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns.
3.4% of residents have an Indigenous identity, more than in 57% of Canadian towns
Residents’ own answers on visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Visible minority residents are rarer here than in 99% of Canadian towns. Typically, 2.8% of residents have an Indigenous identity across Canada’s towns.
English is the mother tongue of 100%, and 0.7% 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
Residents whose mother tongue is French are rarer here than in 99% of Canadian towns. On top of that, across Canada’s towns, the share of bilingual residents is 7.5%; Harbour Breton has 0.7%.
Harbour Breton ranks below 97% of Canadian towns on degree holders aged 25 to 64: 9.4%
The highest diploma or degree of adults of working age (25 to 64).
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
With no certificate, diploma or degree: 27%, beside a typical 9.5%.
49% of residents 15 and over were in work
The census counted work in May 2021, mid-pandemic, so read these rates as a pandemic snapshot. The census’s work rates at a glance. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
With 25% of residents 65 or over, the employment rate of 49% sits under the typical 58% across Canada’s towns.
The towns around Harbour Breton are all older
Places nearby, shaded by median age, each linked to its page. The nearest places to Harbour Breton with figures are 42–45 km away.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harbour Breton | 1,481 | — | 52 | 25% | 0% |
| Grand Bank | 2,082 | 42.3 km | 58.4 | 38% | 0.5% |
| Fortune | 1,249 | 44.9 km | 54.8 | 32% | 0% |
| St. Alban's | 1,093 | 45.4 km | 56 | 29% | 1.7% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- 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 Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns and Canada’s towns. A figure here is set beside two middles, the median across Newfoundland and Labrador’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 Harbour Breton’s residents
Is Harbour Breton bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 0.7% are. Another 0% speak only French and 99% only English, and French is the first language of 0%.
How diverse is Harbour Breton?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 17% are immigrants; here, 0%. A visible minority makes up 0% and Indigenous residents 3.4%.
What religion are people in Harbour Breton?
Most often Christian (96%) or no religion (4.8%); other religions make up 0%.
Is Harbour Breton good for families?
Children under 15 are 12% of residents, against 16% across Canada’s towns. Couple families make up 63% of households and one-parent families 7.1%. Schools near Harbour Breton are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Harbour Breton?
Median total household income in Harbour Breton was $72,500 in 2020, against a median of $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Harbour Breton?
The latest figure is an estimate: 1,481 residents in July 2025. At the 2021 Census, Harbour Breton counted 1,477, 10% fewer than 2016.
What is the average age in Harbour Breton?
Half the residents are older than 52 and half younger; 12% are children under 15 and 25% are 65 or over.
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).