Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainA smaller share of renter households than 79% of Canadian towns: 14%
With a median age of 46.4, Gaetz Brook is older than 74% of Canadian towns. The 2021 Census counted 4,473 residents in 1,885 households. Immigrants account for 3.7%. Most recent wave: just over one in ten immigrants arrived in 2011–2021 (Canada’s towns: 27%).
Below 72% of Canadian towns: 9.6% of residents are aged 15 to 24
All figures are the 2021 Census’s unless another date is shown. Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
No age band is larger than 55–59: one in ten residents, 1.3 times the share across Canada’s towns. Census figures put residents aged 65 and over at 21% in Gaetz Brook. Set beside that, 11% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Gaetz Brook, 46.4. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split.
Gaetz Brook ranks below 61% of Canadian towns on one-person households: 24%
Household types, then household sizes.
Against Nova Scotia’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
The typical household size is 2.4 people, against 2.4 across Canada’s towns. Across Canada’s towns, the share of one-person households is 27%. 7.9% of households are one-parent families.
A larger share of common-law partners than 73% of Canadian towns: 14%
Marital status of residents 15 and over, with common-law couples counted apart.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Just over a fifth of adults have never married and don’t live common-law (typical: 27%). Married residents 15 and over are more common here than in just over three fifths of Canadian towns. Common-law partners: 11% across Canada’s towns, for comparison.
Households in single-detached houses make up 85% in Gaetz Brook, more than in 80% of Canadian towns
Houses and apartments, owners and renters, older and newer homes. 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
Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in 74% of Canadian towns. 27% of homes were built in 2001 or later, more than the 16% built before 1961. As a yardstick, 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns.
Household income at the median: $82,000 a year
Incomes are 2020’s, the census’s reference year, and include pandemic benefits such as CERB. Income per household, before tax, with the groups it falls into.
Households by income · share of households
Half of Gaetz Brook’s households had a total income above $82,000 and half below, close to the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Across Nova Scotia’s towns the median is $69,100. In 2020, 23% of income recipients drew a COVID-19 emergency or recovery benefit; the typical town had 28%.
Residents who moved in within the year: 9.7%, a lower share than 63% of Canadian towns
Immigrants by continent of birth and when they arrived, citizenship, and who moved in recently.
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
With residents without Canadian citizenship at 0.9%, Gaetz Brook is behind 91% of Canadian towns on that count. Residents who moved in within the year: 11% across Canada’s towns, for comparison.
In Gaetz Brook, 5.4% of residents have an Indigenous identity, more than in 72% of Canadian towns
Visible minority and Indigenous identity, then religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
1.9% of residents belong to a visible minority (Canada’s towns: 15%). For comparison, 2.8% of residents have an Indigenous identity across Canada’s towns. In Gaetz Brook, 38% of residents said they have no religion.
Above 58% of Canadian towns: 9.1% of residents speak English and French
English, French and the other languages people grew up with or speak at home.
Can hold a conversation in · share of all residents
Mother tongue · share of all residents
At home: English 98%, French 0.7%. More residents whose mother tongue is French than in 64% of Canadian towns: 2.2%. Set beside that, 7.5% of residents speak English and French across Canada’s towns.
Below 78% of Canadian towns: 16% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher
Highest certificate, diploma or degree of residents aged 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
At the bottom of the ladder, 11% hold no certificate of any kind, against 9.5% in the typical town. Across the comparison, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
55% of adults were employed in May 2021
May 2021 was still a pandemic month: the census’s work figures reflect that. The census’s work rates at a glance. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
At 55%, fewer residents are in work than the typical 58% across Canada’s towns, and 21% are 65 or over.
Ranked by age, 11th oldest of 41 towns this size
Similar-sized towns by median age; each dot is a town.
Between Centennial (32.1) and Beresford (54.4) lies the rest of the group. By median age, Gaetz Brook sits among Melville (45.2), Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley (46), Minnetonka (46.9) and Geraldton (47.2).
Older than Gaetz Brook: 3 of the 6 towns nearby
The closest towns, coloured by how old their residents are.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gaetz Brook | 4,473 | — | 46.4 | 21% | 3.7% |
| East Lawrencetown | 4,020 | 8.8 km | 44.4 | 18% | 5.7% |
| Lake Echo | 5,223 | 8.9 km | 43.6 | 17% | 3.2% |
| Musquodoboit Harbour | 2,719 | 9.8 km | 50.9 | 24% | 9.3% |
| East Preston | 2,573 | 13.6 km | 50.7 | 25% | 1% |
| Lawrencetown | 3,509 | 13.7 km | 46.5 | 17% | 4.4% |
| Westphal | 4,201 | 18.1 km | 44.8 | 16% | 5.5% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Neighbourhoods are sums of small areas. Built up from dissemination areas: Statistics Canada stops at the municipality. Rounded counts are added together and medians estimated from the published groups. The 2016 areas don’t line up with these, so the change since 2016 isn’t shown.
- 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. These are self-reported answers: Indigenous identity, immigrant status, religion. The census’s “visible minority” comes from the Employment Equity Act (non-white in colour or race, Indigenous peoples aside), and the page sets each beside other towns without labelling any.
- Against Nova Scotia’s towns and Canada’s towns. Two medians frame each figure: one for Nova Scotia’s towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, one for all Canadian towns of that size, with whole cities and First Nations reserves left out. Percentiles rank the town within Canada.
Questions about Gaetz Brook’s residents
How diverse is Gaetz Brook?
3.7% of residents are immigrants (Canada’s towns: 17%); 1.9% belong to a visible minority and 5.4% have an Indigenous identity.
What religion are people in Gaetz Brook?
61% are Christian and 38% have no religion; 0.8% follow another religion.
Is Gaetz Brook good for families?
Under 15: 15% (Canada’s towns: 16%). Couple families: 57% of households. One-parent families: 7.9%. Schools near Gaetz Brook are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Gaetz Brook?
The median household in Gaetz Brook took in $82,000 in 2020, against $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Gaetz Brook?
Gaetz Brook had 4,473 residents at the 2021 Census.
What is the average age in Gaetz Brook?
A median age of 46.4, older than 74% of Canadian towns. Children under 15 make up 15%, and people 65 and over 21%.
Is Gaetz Brook bilingual?
9.1% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 0% speak French only and 91% English only. French is the mother tongue of 2.2%.
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).