Photo: Robert Alfers · Public domainAbove 90% of Canadian towns: 26% of households live in a building of five or more storeys
The share of residents without Canadian citizenship tops three quarters of Canadian towns: 12%. Fewer one-person households than in 63% of Canadian towns: 24%. The 2021 Census put Bedford’s population at 28,848, in 11,610 households. 23% of residents belong to a visible minority.
What stands out about the people of Bedford
A neighbourhood people move to
20% of residents lived at another address a year before the census, 1.8 times the typical share; 52% moved within five years. Immigrants & newcomers ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Children under 15: 18%, a higher share than 68% of Canadian towns
Unless a figure says otherwise, it is from the 2021 Census. Every five-year age group as a share of residents; ticks mark the typical town.
More residents are 35–39 than any other five-year age: 7.3% of residents. The usual figure: 16% of residents are under 15 across Canada’s towns. Half of Bedford’s residents are under 41.3, younger than in 54% of Canadian towns. Nothing unusual on residents aged 65 and over: 19%, close to the figure across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Bedford, 41.3. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 91 men for every 100 women.
Larger households than 53% of Canadian towns: 2.5 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.
The share of one-parent families stands at 8.5%.
In Bedford, 53% of residents 15 and over are married, more than in 73% 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
24% of adults are single and have never married; the typical town has 27%. By way of comparison, 46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns. Common-law partners: a tenth of the total.
43% of households rent their home, more than in 78% 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
Nearly half of homes were built in 2001 or later, more than the 5.7% built before 1961. Renter households: 25% across Canada’s towns, for comparison. On households in single-detached houses, Bedford sits lower than 74% of Canadian towns: 45%.
Half of households earn more than $98,000 a year
The census asked about income in 2020: a pandemic year, with CERB and other emergency benefits counted in. Income per household, before tax, with the groups it falls into.
Households by income · share of households
The median across Canada’s towns is $86,000; Bedford’s, at $98,000, is 14% higher. Among Nova Scotia’s towns, the typical figure is $69,100. Pandemic payments such as CERB reached 24% of income recipients here, against 28% in the typical town.
Bedford: 20% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, above 93% of Canadian towns
Birthplaces and arrival years of immigrants, citizenship and recent moves.
Immigrants, by continent of birth · share of all residents; the bar runs to 25%
When immigrants arrived · share of immigrants
Citizenship and moving · share of residents
The largest groups of immigrants were born in Asia (57%) and in Europe (22%). Typically, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns. Recent arrivals are 52% of immigrants (2011 to 2021), beside 27% across Canada’s towns.
54% said they are Christian and 35% that they have no religion
Identity and faith, in the census’s categories.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Among other religions: Muslim (5.6%). Indigenous residents: 2.3%, near enough the figure across Canada’s towns.
Bilingual residents make up 13% in Bedford, more than in 68% of Canadian towns
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
Bedford sits close to the norm on residents whose mother tongue is French: 2.4%, about the same as across Canada’s towns. The wider picture: 7.5% of residents speak English and French across Canada’s towns. At home, 12% mostly speak another language; 1% speak neither English nor French.
A higher share of degree holders aged 25 to 64 than 89% of Canadian towns, at 54%
Education of residents 25 to 64, by highest credential.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
No certificate, diploma or degree is held by 2.8%; in the typical town the share is 9.5%. Set beside that, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
58% 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. Four labour figures from the census. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
Employment here, 58%, matches the middle of Canada’s towns (58%) within a couple of points.
Oldest by rank: 16th of 41 towns of 27,419 to 30,304 people
Towns of about this size, placed by median age.
The group spans Alloa, youngest at 31.3, to Picton, oldest at 56.8. Glenfield-Jane Heights (40.5), Austinville (41), Wexford/Maryvale (41.6) and Auteuil (41.6): the towns nearest Bedford in median age.
Among its 6 nearest neighbours, 1 are older than Bedford
Neighbouring places and their median ages; each name opens its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bedford | 28,848 | — | 41.3 | 19% | 19% |
| Clayton Park West | 34,404 | 5.0 km | 39.3 | 20% | 25% |
| Lower Sackville | 20,171 | 5.7 km | 43.6 | 19% | 4.7% |
| Fairview | 16,296 | 7.7 km | 36.1 | 14% | 22% |
| Mount Royale | 9,340 | 7.9 km | 39 | 21% | 20% |
| Timberlea | 11,014 | 8.1 km | 38.6 | 9.9% | 12% |
| Middle Sackville | 14,898 | 8.2 km | 39.9 | 13% | 5.5% |
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 Nova Scotia’s towns and Canada’s towns. Each comparison is its own median: over Nova Scotia’s towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, and over all Canadian towns of that size (whole cities and First Nations reserves left out). Percentiles are within Canada only.
- Neighbourhoods are sums of small areas. There is no census profile for a neighbourhood, so we add up the dissemination areas inside it. Each count is a sum of Statistics Canada’s rounded counts, the median age and income come from the published groups, and with 2016’s areas drawn differently there is no 2016 count.
Questions about Bedford’s residents
What is the median income in Bedford?
Half of Bedford’s households had more than $98,000 in 2020, before tax; across Canada’s towns the median was $86,000.
What is the population of Bedford?
28,848, at the 2021 Census: Statistics Canada makes no later estimate for Bedford alone.
What is the average age in Bedford?
The median age is 41.3, younger than 54% of Canadian towns. 18% are under 15 and 19% 65 or older.
Is Bedford bilingual?
Both official languages are spoken by 13% of residents, against a typical 7.5% across Canada’s towns. 86% speak only English and 0.1% only French; 2.4% grew up with French.
How diverse is Bedford?
Immigrants: 19% (Canada’s towns: 17%). Visible minority: 23%. Indigenous identity: 2.3%.
What religion are people in Bedford?
35% said they have no religion and 54% that they are Christian; 11% named another faith.
Is Bedford good for families?
18% of residents are under 15 (Canada’s towns: 16%); couple families are 59% of households and one-parent families 8.5%. Schools near Bedford are on its Schools page.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population. 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).