Photo: Dennis G. Jarvis · CC BY-SA 2.0Half of Sheet Harbour is over 57.3, older than 97% of Canadian towns
64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns, against 92% in Sheet Harbour. The 2021 Census counted 3,334 residents in 1,625 households. The share of Indigenous residents stands at 7%. On residents who moved in within the year, Sheet Harbour sits lower than 88% of Canadian towns: 7.3%.
What stands out about the people of Sheet Harbour
Older than most towns
Line Sheet Harbour’s residents up by age and the one in the middle is 57.3; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 33% are 65 or over, against 19% across Canada’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
A larger share of residents aged 65 and over than 96% of Canadian towns: 33%
All figures are the 2021 Census’s unless another date is shown. Every five-year age group as a share of residents; ticks mark the typical town.
Where just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24 across Canada’s towns, Sheet Harbour has 8.1%. Typically, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Sheet Harbour, 57.3. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split.
Sheet Harbour households average 2 people, smaller than in 88% of Canadian towns
Private households by type and size.
Against Nova Scotia’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
Here just over a third of households are one person living alone, where the figure across Canada’s towns is 27%. 7.7% of households are one-parent families.
A larger share of married residents 15 and over than 59% of Canadian towns: 49%
How adults live as couples, or don’t, with common-law unions shown on their own.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Just over one in ten residents 15 and over live common-law; across Canada’s towns the figure is 11%. Never married and not common-law: nearly a fifth of adults (typical: 27%).
Below 84% of Canadian towns: 12% of households rent their home
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
Older homes outnumber new: 37% predate 1961, 6.4% date from 2001 or later. On average, a quarter of households rent their home across Canada’s towns. Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in 74% of Canadian towns.
$56,100 a year: where the middle household sits
Incomes are 2020’s, the census’s reference year, and include pandemic benefits such as CERB. What households took in before tax, at the middle and across income groups.
Households by income · share of households
The median across Canada’s towns is $86,000; Sheet Harbour’s, at $56,100, is 35% lower. Across Nova Scotia’s towns, half of households had more than $69,100 before tax. The pandemic’s benefits: 20% of income recipients, against 28% in the typical town.
2.8% of residents are immigrants
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
Across Canada’s towns, the share of immigrants is 17%; Sheet Harbour has 2.8%. Locally, 0.3% of residents are not Canadian citizens.
A smaller share of residents with no religion than 68% of Canadian towns: 29%
Visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion, as residents answered the census.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
By its share of visible minority residents (1.1%), Sheet Harbour is below 94% of Canadian towns. The share of residents with no religion across Canada’s towns is 35%.
97% have English as their mother tongue; 3.5% also speak French
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
Across Canada’s towns, the share of bilingual residents is 7.5%; Sheet Harbour has 3.5%. The census found that 0.9% of residents have French as their mother tongue locally.
Below 93% of Canadian towns: 11% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher
From no certificate to a master’s: residents 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Without any certificate: 23% of 25- to 64-year-olds (typical: 9.5%).
Employment: 37% of residents 15 and over had a job
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.
The employment rate of 37% is below the typical 58% across Canada’s towns; 33% of residents are 65 or over.
Oldest by rank: 2nd of 41 towns of 3,279 to 3,389 people
Towns of about this size, placed by median age.
North Kawartha is the oldest at 59.2, Arviat the youngest at 21.8. By median age, Sheet Harbour sits among Grande-Rivière (55.6), Placentia (56.4) and North Kawartha (59.2).
Sheet Harbour and its 5 nearest towns: 1 of them are older
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each links to its own page. Distances here run 53–68 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Sheet Harbour.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sheet Harbour | 3,334 | — | 57.3 | 33% | 2.8% |
| St. Mary's | 2,212 | 53.3 km | 57.6 | 33% | 2.8% |
| Pictou County, Subdivision B | 6,482 | 65.7 km | 51.6 | 27% | 2.7% |
| Colchester County, Subdivision C | 14,211 | 67.0 km | 47.2 | 22% | 3.4% |
| Stewiacke | 1,786 | 67.9 km | 47.6 | 24% | 1.6% |
| Stellarton | 4,251 | 68.2 km | 47.2 | 23% | 2.5% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What these tables don’t give. The Census Profile has no unpaid care, cars or internet access, and no change by age since 2016; ethnic origins beyond visible minority and Indigenous identity aren’t charted here.
- 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. Provincial and national yardsticks: Nova Scotia’s towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents, and all Canadian towns of that size. No whole city and no First Nations reserve is in either median.
- Neighbourhoods are sums of small areas. Statistics Canada reports the census by municipality; a neighbourhood’s figures are the sum of its dissemination areas, rounded counts and all, with medians estimated from age and income groups and no 2016 count, as the 2016 areas don’t fit.
Questions about Sheet Harbour’s residents
What is the median income in Sheet Harbour?
The median household in Sheet Harbour took in $56,100 in 2020, against $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Sheet Harbour?
Sheet Harbour had 3,334 residents at the 2021 Census.
What is the average age in Sheet Harbour?
A median age of 57.3, older than 97% of Canadian towns. Children under 15 make up 10%, and people 65 and over 33%.
Is Sheet Harbour bilingual?
3.5% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 0% speak French only and 96% English only. French is the mother tongue of 0.9%.
How diverse is Sheet Harbour?
2.8% of residents are immigrants (Canada’s towns: 17%); 1.1% belong to a visible minority and 7% have an Indigenous identity.
What religion are people in Sheet Harbour?
70% are Christian and 29% have no religion; 1.3% follow another religion.
Is Sheet Harbour good for families?
Under 15: 10% (Canada’s towns: 16%). Couple families: 53% of households. One-parent families: 7.7%. Schools near Sheet Harbour 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).