Photo: PatHirtle · CC BY-SA 4.0Older than 89% of Canadian towns: half of Bridgewater is over 51.6
Just over one in ten residents are under 15; across Canada’s towns the figure is 16%. With about 9,989 residents in July 2025, Bridgewater counted 4,260 households at the 2021 Census. One-person households account for 39%. Compared with other places, renter households are common here: 42%, more than in 77% of Canadian towns.
What stands out about the people of Bridgewater
Older than most towns
Line Bridgewater’s residents up by age and the one in the middle is 51.6; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 30% are 65 or over, against 19% across Canada’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
+3% since 2016: slower than 57% of Canadian towns
All figures are the 2021 Census’s unless another date is shown. How the population moved between the last two censuses, and since.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025 is 14% higher again. Across Canada’s towns, the typical town changed +4%; across Nova Scotia’s towns, +2%.
Bridgewater ranks above 92% of Canadian towns on residents aged 65 and over: 30%
Every five-year age group as a share of residents; ticks mark the typical town.
With residents aged 15 to 24 at 9.7%, Bridgewater is behind 70% of Canadian towns on that count. For comparison, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns. The biggest five-year age group is 60–64, with 8% of residents.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Bridgewater, 51.6. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 86 men for every 100 women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Bridgewater households average 2 people, smaller than in 90% of Canadian towns
Private households by type and size.
Against Nova Scotia’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
With one-parent families at 9.7%, Bridgewater is ahead of 72% of Canadian towns on that count.
Married residents 15 and over: 41%, a lower share than 66% of Canadian towns
How adults live as couples, or don’t, with common-law unions shown on their own.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
25% of adults have never married and don’t live common-law (typical: 27%). The wider picture: 46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns. Census figures put common-law partners at 11% in Bridgewater.
A lower share of households in single-detached houses than 71% of Canadian towns, at 48%
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
Older homes outnumber new: 27% predate 1961, 21% date from 2001 or later. The wider picture: 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns. Households in buildings of five or more storeys make up 0.8%, close to the figure across Canada’s towns.
The median household brings in $57,200 a year
The income year is 2020: a year of pandemic benefits such as CERB, which the figures count. Total household income: the median household, and the spread from low to high.
Households by income · share of households
Half of Bridgewater’s households had a total income below $57,200, 33% under the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). The figure for Nova Scotia’s towns: $69,100. COVID-19 benefits went to 23% of residents with an income (typical: 28%).
More residents who moved in within the year than 70% of Canadian towns: 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
Where 17% of residents are immigrants across Canada’s towns, Bridgewater has 6.7%. Residents who moved in within the year make up 11% across Canada’s towns. Most immigrants were born in Europe (39%) or in Asia (31%).
40% of residents said they have no religion, a share 67% of Canadian towns don’t reach
Visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion, as residents answered the census.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Compared with 2.8% across Canada’s towns, 4.3% of residents have an Indigenous identity here. The census found that 5.2% of residents belong to a visible minority in Bridgewater. For residents with no religion, the comparison across Canada’s towns is 35%.
93% have English as their mother tongue; 7.8% 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
At home: English 96%, French 0.3%. 1.3% of residents have French as their mother tongue, about the same as across Canada’s towns.
Below 64% of Canadian towns: 21% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher
From no certificate to a master’s: residents 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Some 13% have no certificate, diploma or degree, against a typical 9.5%. Against that, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
An employment rate of 46%
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 46%, fewer residents are in work than the typical 58% across Canada’s towns, and 30% are 65 or over.
Oldest by rank: 4th of 41 towns of 9,831 to 10,147 people
Towns of about this size, placed by median age.
Median ages here range from 25.6 in Stanley to 58.8 in Blind Bay. By median age, Bridgewater sits among Bridle Path-Sunnybrook-York Mills (50.9), Elizabethtown-Kitley (51.2), Ladysmith (52.8) and Shediac (52.8).
Every neighbour of Bridgewater has an older population
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each links to its own page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bridgewater | 9,989 | — | 51.6 | 30% | 6.7% |
| Lunenburg | 26,862 | 2.6 km | 53.6 | 29% | 5.7% |
| Mahone Bay | 1,200 | 13.2 km | 60 | 41% | 17% |
| Lunenburg | 2,523 | 16.6 km | 57.2 | 36% | 12% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The census’s own words. “Visible minority” is the census’s term from the Employment Equity Act: people, other than Indigenous peoples, who are non-white in colour or race. Indigenous identity, immigrant status and religion are as residents answered. The page compares them with other towns and never labels a town by them.
- Against Nova Scotia’s towns and Canada’s towns. A figure here is set beside two middles, the median across Nova Scotia’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.
- What these tables don’t give. Not in the Census Profile: unpaid care, cars, internet access, and how each age group has changed since 2016. We also chart no ethnic origins besides visible minority and Indigenous identity.
Questions about Bridgewater’s residents
What is the population of Bridgewater?
Bridgewater had about 9,989 residents in July 2025, Statistics Canada estimates; the 2021 Census counted 8,790, 3% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Bridgewater?
A median age of 51.6, older than 89% of Canadian towns. Children under 15 make up 12%, and people 65 and over 30%.
Is Bridgewater bilingual?
7.8% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 0% speak French only and 92% English only. French is the mother tongue of 1.3%.
How diverse is Bridgewater?
6.7% of residents are immigrants (Canada’s towns: 17%); 5.2% belong to a visible minority and 4.3% have an Indigenous identity.
What religion are people in Bridgewater?
57% are Christian and 40% have no religion; 2.5% follow another religion.
Is Bridgewater good for families?
Under 15: 12% (Canada’s towns: 16%). Couple families: 43% of households. One-parent families: 9.7%. Schools near Bridgewater are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Bridgewater?
The median household in Bridgewater took in $57,200 in 2020, against $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
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).