Photo: WabbitWanderer from London, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0A lower share of renter households than 91% of Canadian towns, at 9.2%
The median age in Hatchet Lake is 47.8, higher than in 79% of Canadian towns. On the census count, 21% of households are one person living alone. The neighbourhood had 9,930 residents in 4,105 households at the 2021 Census. Here nearly one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24, where the figure across Canada’s towns is 11%.
14% of residents are under 15, fewer than in 70% 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 55–59 than any other five-year age: nearly one in ten residents, 1.3 times the share across Canada’s towns. Typically, 16% of residents are under 15 across Canada’s towns. Across Hatchet Lake, 20% of residents are 65 or over.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Hatchet Lake, 47.8. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split.
Bigger households than 51% of Canadian towns: 2.4 people each on average
Who shares a home: household types and sizes.
Against Nova Scotia’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
The share of one-parent families is 7%, against 8.2% across Canada’s towns.
A larger share of married residents 15 and over than 74% of Canadian towns: 53%
How adults live as couples, or don’t, with common-law unions shown on their own.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Never married and not common-law: just over a fifth of adults (typical: 27%). Elsewhere, 46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns. Common-law partners: 13% of the total.
Above 90% of Canadian towns: 91% of households live in a single-detached house
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
Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in nearly three quarters of Canadian towns. The share of households in single-detached houses across Canada’s towns is 64%. 18% of homes were built before 1961 and 17% in 2001 or later.
Before tax, the median household income is $93,000 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
Hatchet Lake’s median household took in $93,000 before tax, 8% more than the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). The provincial yardstick is $69,100, the median across Nova Scotia’s towns. Emergency and recovery benefits reached 23% of those with an income, beside a typical 28%.
Below 60% of Canadian towns: 10% of residents lived at another address a year earlier
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
Most immigrants were born in Europe (55%) or in the Americas (17%). Measured more widely, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns. 6.1% of residents are immigrants, fewer than in 77% of Canadian towns. Add to that, of the immigrants living here, 21% came between 2011 and 2021; across Canada’s towns the share is 27%.
Hatchet Lake: 40% of residents said they have no religion, above 65% of Canadian towns
Residents’ own answers on visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Against a figure of 15% across Canada’s towns, the share of visible minority residents in Hatchet Lake comes in at 3%. For comparison, 35% of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns. Locally, 3.2% of residents have an Indigenous identity.
A larger share of bilingual residents than 58% of Canadian towns: 9.1%
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
Residents whose mother tongue is French make up 1.9%, close to the figure across Canada’s towns. Across Canada’s towns, 7.5% of residents speak English and French.
Above 56% of Canadian towns: 30% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher
The highest diploma or degree of adults of working age (25 to 64).
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Without any certificate: 7.3% of 25- to 64-year-olds (typical: 9.5%).
57% of adults were employed in May 2021
Census day was in May 2021, mid-pandemic: some of these rates are lower than in a usual year. Four labour figures from the census. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
57% of residents 15 and over have a job, in line with the typical 58% across Canada’s towns.
Of 41 towns its size (9,787 to 10,080 people), the 12th oldest
Towns of about this size, placed by median age.
At one end is Stanley (25.6), at the other Blind Bay (58.8). In age, Hatchet Lake keeps company with River Valley Oleskiw (46.2), Mono (47.2), Amherst (48.8) and Guildwood (49.4).
No nearby town is as old as Hatchet Lake
Places nearby, shaded by median age, each linked to its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hatchet Lake | 9,930 | — | 47.8 | 20% | 6.1% |
| Harrietsfield | 6,786 | 9.5 km | 46.2 | 19% | 6.2% |
| Timberlea | 11,014 | 12.0 km | 38.6 | 9.9% | 12% |
| Mount Royale | 9,340 | 13.6 km | 39 | 21% | 20% |
| Westmount | 23,207 | 14.1 km | 40.4 | 20% | 14% |
| South End | 22,012 | 14.1 km | 34.3 | 14% | 16% |
| Fairview | 16,296 | 14.9 km | 36.1 | 14% | 22% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Questions about Hatchet Lake’s residents
What is the population of Hatchet Lake?
Hatchet Lake had 9,930 residents at the 2021 Census.
What is the average age in Hatchet Lake?
47.8 is the median age, older than 79% of Canadian towns. Under 15: 14%. 65 and over: 20%.
Is Hatchet Lake 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 1.9%.
How diverse is Hatchet Lake?
Immigrants make up 6.1% of residents, against 17% across Canada’s towns. 3% are members of a visible minority, and 3.2% are First Nations, Métis or Inuit.
What religion are people in Hatchet Lake?
Christian: 59%. No religion: 40%. Another religion: 1.4%.
Is Hatchet Lake good for families?
Across Canada’s towns, a typical 16% of residents are under 15; here, 14%. 62% of households are couple families and 7% one-parent families. Schools near Hatchet Lake are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Hatchet Lake?
$93,000 before tax, in 2020: the middle household’s income in Hatchet Lake (Canada’s towns: $86,000).
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).