Photo: A Disappearing Act · CC BY-SA 2.0In Fairview, 63% of households rent their home, more than in 92% of Canadian towns
Most recent wave: 62% of immigrants arrived in 2011–2021 (Canada’s towns: 27%). Compared with other places, one-person households are common here: 38%, more than in 85% of Canadian towns. Half of Fairview’s 16,296 residents are older than 36.1 (younger than 86% of Canadian towns), in 7,685 households at the 2021 Census. Across Fairview, a third of residents belong to a visible minority.
What stands out about the people of Fairview
A neighbourhood of renters
Renters are 63% of households, more than in 92% of Canadian towns, and 63% of households live in an apartment. Homes ↓
Younger than most towns
Fairview’s median age is 36.1; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 14% are under 15 and 14% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
A neighbourhood people move to
19% of residents lived at another address a year before the census, 1.7 times the typical share; 52% moved within five years. Immigrants & newcomers ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Younger than 86% of Canadian towns: half of Fairview is under 36.1
The figures are the 2021 Census’s, except where another date is given. Age bands of five years, the town’s bars against the typical town’s ticks.
The share of children under 15 trails nearly three quarters of Canadian towns: 14%. Among Nova Scotia’s towns, Lunenburg has the highest share aged 65 or over, at 36%.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Fairview, 36.1. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women.
Smaller households than 80% 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.
Shared houses stand out: one in ten households are unrelated adults living together, more than in 96% of Canadian towns. Locally, 7.9% of households are one-parent families.
Fairview ranks below 77% of Canadian towns on married residents 15 and over: 35%
Residents 15 and over by marital status; the census counts common-law couples separately.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Across Canada’s towns, just over one in ten residents 15 and over live common-law; in Fairview, 13%. Singles who have never married make up 38% of adults, beside a typical 27%.
22% of households live in a building of five or more storeys, a share 88% of Canadian towns don’t reach
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
Nearly a quarter of homes were built before 1961 and 17% in 2001 or later. Fewer households in single-detached houses than in 85% of Canadian towns: 28%.
$63,100 a year: the median household income
The income year is 2020: a year of pandemic benefits such as CERB, which the figures count. Income per household, before tax, with the groups it falls into.
Households by income · share of households
At $63,100, the middle household in Fairview earned 27% less than the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Household incomes across Nova Scotia’s towns have a median of $69,100. Pandemic payments such as CERB reached 31% of income recipients here, against 28% in the typical town.
19% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, more than in 91% of Canadian towns
Immigrants, newcomers and movers.
Immigrants, by continent of birth · share of all residents; the bar runs to 30%
When immigrants arrived · share of immigrants
Citizenship and moving · share of residents
Where 5.8% of residents are not Canadian citizens across Canada’s towns, Fairview has 19%. Immigrants: just over a fifth of the total. The benchmark for residents who moved in within the year across Canada’s towns: 11%.
A higher share of residents with no religion than 54% of Canadian towns, at 36%
Identity and faith, in the census’s categories.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Other faiths: Muslim (8.2%) and Hindu (2.7%). Across the comparison, just over a third of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns. 3.5% of residents have an Indigenous identity, about the same as across Canada’s towns.
Fairview: 10% of residents speak English and French, above 61% 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
At home: English 80%, French 0.8%. As a reference point, 7.5% of residents speak English and French across Canada’s towns. Fairview sits close to the norm on residents whose mother tongue is French: 1.8%, about the same as across Canada’s towns.
In Fairview, 42% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, more than in 75% of Canadian towns
Education of residents 25 to 64, by highest credential.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
No diploma or degree: 9.2% here, 9.5% in the typical town. The wider picture: 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
58% 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 labour rates, in brief. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
The employment rate of 58% is close to the typical 58% across Canada’s towns.
Among 41 towns of 15,872 to 16,760 people, the 7th youngest
Median age of the Canadian towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
They run from Evergreen, at 32.8, to Vieux-Moulin, at 54.3. The closest ages to Fairview’s belong to North Toronto (35.4), Parc-Lafontaine (36.1), Carlington (37.6) and Saint-Sauveur (37.8).
Fairview is younger than 3 of its 6 nearest neighbours
Neighbouring places and their median ages; each name opens its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairview | 16,296 | — | 36.1 | 14% | 22% |
| Mount Royale | 9,340 | 1.5 km | 39 | 21% | 20% |
| Windsor Park | 13,044 | 1.9 km | 35.4 | 14% | 14% |
| Westmount | 23,207 | 2.6 km | 40.4 | 20% | 14% |
| Clayton Park West | 34,404 | 3.2 km | 39.3 | 20% | 25% |
| North End | 19,733 | 3.4 km | 33.3 | 14% | 14% |
| Schmidtville | 18,105 | 4.9 km | 29 | 13% | 15% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. The figures sum the neighbourhood’s dissemination areas, since the census is published for municipalities only. Medians are estimated from the age and income groups, counts carry Statistics Canada’s rounding, and no 2016 count matches these boundaries.
- What these tables don’t give. Some things the page can’t show: the Census Profile asks nothing about unpaid care, cars or internet access, and gives no change by age since 2016. Ethnic origins beyond visible minority and Indigenous identity aren’t charted.
- 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 Fairview’s residents
What is the average age in Fairview?
Half the residents are older than 36.1 and half younger, younger than 86% of Canadian towns; 14% are children under 15 and 14% are 65 or over.
Is Fairview bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 10% are. Another 0.1% speak only French and 88% only English, and French is the first language of 1.8%.
How diverse is Fairview?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 17% are immigrants; here, 22%. A visible minority makes up 33% and Indigenous residents 3.5%.
What religion are people in Fairview?
Most often Christian (49%) or no religion (36%); other religions make up 15%.
Is Fairview good for families?
Children under 15 are 14% of residents, against 16% across Canada’s towns. Couple families make up 39% of households and one-parent families 7.9%. Schools near Fairview are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Fairview?
Median total household income in Fairview was $63,100 in 2020, against a median of $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Fairview?
The 2021 Census counted 16,296 people in Fairview.
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).