Photo: Coastal Elite from Halifax, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0Cole Harbour sits below 80% of Canadian towns for one-person households (19%)
17% of households rent their home, against 25% across Canada’s towns. Cole Harbour had 21,627 residents in 8,315 households at the 2021 Census. Census figures put residents who moved in within the year at 8.7% in the neighbourhood. Fewer residents without Canadian citizenship than in 73% of Canadian towns: 2.2%.
A median age of 43: Cole Harbour is older than 56% of Canadian towns
Unless a figure says otherwise, it is from the 2021 Census. Age bands of five years, the town’s bars against the typical town’s ticks.
55–59 is the most common age band: 8% of residents. Among Nova Scotia’s towns, Lunenburg has the highest share aged 65 or over, at 36%. Residents aged 15 to 24: 11%, near enough the figure across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Cole Harbour, 43. 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.
Cole Harbour households average 2.6 people, larger than in 64% 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 9.4%, Cole Harbour is ahead of 67% of Canadian towns on that count.
A higher share of married residents 15 and over than 68% of Canadian towns, at 52%
Residents 15 and over by marital status; the census counts common-law couples separately.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Single and never married: 25% of adults, against a typical 27%. For comparison, 46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns. Census figures put common-law partners at 11% in Cole Harbour.
Cole Harbour: 71% of households live in a single-detached house, above 59% of Canadian towns
Occupied homes by type, by owners and renters, and by when they were built. 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
Newer homes outnumber old: 15% date from 2001 or later, 2.9% from before 1961. Against that, 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns. Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in 74% of Canadian towns.
Half of households earn more than $103,100 a year
Census incomes cover 2020, when emergency benefits like CERB lifted many households’ totals. Household income before tax: the median, and households by income group.
Households by income · share of households
The middle household in Cole Harbour had $103,100 before tax, 20% above the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Across Nova Scotia’s towns, half of households had more than $69,100 before tax. The pandemic’s benefits: 23% of income recipients, against 28% in the typical town.
6.5% of residents are immigrants
Immigrants, newcomers and movers.
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, Cole Harbour has 6.5%. The largest groups of immigrants were born in Asia (36%) and in Europe (33%).
Residents with no religion make up 39% in Cole Harbour, more than in 61% of Canadian towns
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, 4.1% of residents have an Indigenous identity here. Against that, just over a third of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns. Visible minority residents: 9.4% of the total.
Bilingual residents: 13%, a higher share than 66% of Canadian towns
Knowledge of the two official languages, first languages, and the language of home.
Can hold a conversation in · share of all residents
Mother tongue · share of all residents
Here 2.9% of residents have French as their mother tongue, where the figure across Canada’s towns is 1.5%. For bilingual residents, the comparison across Canada’s towns is 7.5%.
Cole Harbour: 33% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, above 61% of Canadian towns
From no certificate to a master’s: residents 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
A job for 60% of residents aged 15 and over
The census was taken in May 2021, during the pandemic, so these rates show a labour market still recovering. The census’s labour rates, in brief. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
Employment runs above the middle of Canada’s towns (58%), at 60%.
In its size band (21,130 to 22,141), the 15th oldest of 41 towns
Median age of the Canadian towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
The youngest is Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver (31.4) and the oldest Port Colborne (50.4). The towns whose median age is nearest to Cole Harbour’s: Sturgeon County (41.2), Varennes (42.4), The Beaches (43.6) and Middlesex Centre (43.6).
Cole Harbour sits below 4 of its 6 closest neighbours on median age
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each links to its own page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cole Harbour | 21,627 | — | 43 | 18% | 6.5% |
| Portland Estates | 10,164 | 2.8 km | 51.9 | 32% | 10% |
| Westphal | 4,201 | 3.4 km | 44.8 | 16% | 5.5% |
| Woodlawn | 20,925 | 4.7 km | 43.7 | 18% | 7.9% |
| Manor Park | 14,148 | 5.3 km | 41.2 | 19% | 8.4% |
| Eastern Passage | 10,745 | 5.5 km | 38.2 | 13% | 5.7% |
| Lawrencetown | 3,509 | 6.0 km | 46.5 | 17% | 4.4% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- The census’s own words. Indigenous identity, immigrant status and religion are as residents answered them. “Visible minority” follows the Employment Equity Act, meaning people other than Indigenous peoples who are non-white in colour or race. We compare these figures across towns; none is a label for a town.
- 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.
- Neighbourhoods are sums of small areas. Statistics Canada publishes the census for municipalities, not neighbourhoods, so these figures add up the dissemination areas inside the neighbourhood. Counts are sums of StatCan’s rounded counts; the median age and income are worked out from the published age and income groups; and 2016 areas don’t add up to these, so there is no 2016 count.
Questions about Cole Harbour’s residents
What is the average age in Cole Harbour?
Half the residents are older than 43 and half younger, older than 56% of Canadian towns; 17% are children under 15 and 18% are 65 or over.
Is Cole Harbour bilingual?
Both official languages are spoken by 13% of residents, against a typical 7.5% across Canada’s towns. 87% speak only English and 0% only French; 2.9% grew up with French.
How diverse is Cole Harbour?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 17% are immigrants; here, 6.5%. A visible minority makes up 9.4% and Indigenous residents 4.1%.
What religion are people in Cole Harbour?
Most often Christian (60%) or no religion (39%); other religions make up 1.9%.
Is Cole Harbour good for families?
Children under 15 are 17% of residents, against 16% across Canada’s towns. Couple families make up 62% of households and one-parent families 9.4%. Schools near Cole Harbour are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Cole Harbour?
Median total household income in Cole Harbour was $103,100 in 2020, against a median of $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Cole Harbour?
Cole Harbour had 21,627 residents at the 2021 Census.
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).