Photo: Dennis G. Jarvis · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 50: Barrington is older than 85% of Canadian towns
9.1% of residents have an Indigenous identity; across Canada’s towns the figure is 2.8%. By contrast, at 6.3%, the share of residents who moved in within the year is lower than in 95% of Canadian towns. Barrington had about 6,720 residents in July 2025, by Statistics Canada’s estimate, and 3,025 households at the 2021 Census. Here, 16% of households rent their home.
What stands out about the people of Barrington
Older than most towns
Barrington’s median age is 50; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 25% are 65 or over, against 19% across Canada’s towns. Ages ↓
Fewer people than before
Between the 2016 and 2021 censuses, Barrington went from 6,646 to 6,523 residents (−2%), slower growth than in 88% of Canadian towns. Population change ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
−2% since 2016, a pace below 88% of Canadian towns
The 2021 Census is the source of every figure here unless a date says otherwise. How the population moved between the last two censuses, and since.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025 is 3% higher again. For comparison, the median is +4% across Canada’s towns and +2% across Nova Scotia’s towns.
Barrington sits above 80% of Canadian towns for residents aged 65 and over (25%)
Every five-year age group as a share of residents; ticks mark the typical town.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 9.1%, below 79% of Canadian towns. To put it in context, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns. No age band is larger than 55–59: nearly one in ten residents.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Barrington, 50. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split.
Smaller households than 83% of Canadian towns: 2.1 people on average
Households by family type and by the number of people in them.
Against Nova Scotia’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
31% of households are one person living alone, against 27% across Canada’s towns. Here, nearly one in ten households are one-parent families.
A larger share of married residents 15 and over than 62% of Canadian towns: 50%
How adults live as couples, or don’t, with common-law unions shown on their own.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Singles who have never married make up 23% of adults, beside a typical 27%. Here, 11% of residents 15 and over live common-law.
Households in single-detached houses make up 89% in Barrington, more than in 87% 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
One in ten homes need major repairs, against a typical 5.8%. Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in nearly three quarters of Canadian towns. Typically, 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns.
A median household income of $68,500 a year
Census incomes cover 2020, when emergency benefits like CERB lifted many households’ totals. Total household income: the median household, and the spread from low to high.
Households by income · share of households
The median across Canada’s towns is $86,000; Barrington’s, at $68,500, is 20% lower. Household incomes across Nova Scotia’s towns have a median of $69,100. Pandemic benefits reached 30% of residents with an income, against a typical 28%.
2.2% 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
0.8% of residents are not Canadian citizens; across Canada’s towns the figure is 5.8%. Immigrants are rarer here than in 93% of Canadian towns.
37% of residents said they have no religion, a share 57% of Canadian towns don’t reach
Identity and faith, in the census’s categories.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
The figure for visible minority residents is 1.5% in Barrington and 15% across Canada’s towns. Residents with no religion: 35% across Canada’s towns, for comparison.
97% have English as their mother tongue; 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
Across Canada’s towns, the share of bilingual residents is 7.5%; Barrington has 6%. Census figures put residents whose mother tongue is French at 1.7% locally.
Degree holders aged 25 to 64 make up 7.2% in Barrington, less than in 99% of Canadian towns
Education of residents 25 to 64, by highest credential.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Without any certificate: 27% of 25- to 64-year-olds (typical: 9.5%).
In work on census day: 54% of adults
These rates date from May 2021, during the pandemic, and run lower than a normal year’s. Four labour figures from the census. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
At 54%, fewer residents are in work than the typical 58% across Canada’s towns, and 25% are 65 or over.
Of 41 towns its size (6,590 to 6,860 people), the 6th oldest
Towns of about this size, placed by median age.
The youngest is Rhineland (27.2) and the oldest Southern Gulf Islands (61.6). Next to Barrington on this scale come Elmhurst (48.7), Charlemagne (49.2), Stephenville (50.8) and Thunder Bay, Unorganized (51.6).
No nearby town is as young as Barrington
Neighbouring places and their median ages; each name opens its page. No closer places have figures: these lie 39–43 km from Barrington.
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Nova Scotia’s towns and Canada’s towns. The middle of Nova Scotia’s towns of 2,500 or more comes first, the middle of all Canadian towns second; cities as a whole and First Nations reserves stay out, and percentiles are within Canada.
- What these tables don’t give. Unpaid care, car ownership and internet access aren’t in the Census Profile, nor is the change by age since 2016. Ethnic origins other than visible minority and Indigenous identity are left out of the charts.
- 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.
Questions about Barrington’s residents
How diverse is Barrington?
Immigrants: 2.2% (Canada’s towns: 17%). Visible minority: 1.5%. Indigenous identity: 9.1%.
What religion are people in Barrington?
37% said they have no religion and 62% that they are Christian; 0.8% named another faith.
Is Barrington good for families?
13% of residents are under 15 (Canada’s towns: 16%); couple families are 54% of households and one-parent families 8.6%. Schools near Barrington are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Barrington?
Half of Barrington’s households had more than $68,500 in 2020, before tax; across Canada’s towns the median was $86,000.
What is the population of Barrington?
About 6,720, by Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025. The 2021 Census found 6,523 people in Barrington, 2% fewer than 2016.
What is the average age in Barrington?
The median age is 50, older than 85% of Canadian towns. 13% are under 15 and 25% 65 or older.
Is Barrington bilingual?
6% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 0% speak French only and 94% English only. French is the mother tongue of 1.7%.
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).