Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.036% of households are one person living alone, a share 81% of Canadian towns don’t reach
Of the immigrants living here, 85% came between 2011 and 2021; across Canada’s towns the share is 27%. Some 1,261 people live in Oxford, by the estimate for July 2025. Locally, 14% of residents lived at another address a year earlier. With a median age of 46, Oxford is older than 72% of Canadian towns.
−2% since 2016: slower than 88% of Canadian towns
All figures are the 2021 Census’s unless another date is shown. Two census counts, five years apart, and Statistics Canada’s newest estimate.
Change, 2016 to 2021
The July 2025 estimate adds another 8%.
A larger share of residents aged 65 and over than 69% of Canadian towns: 22%
Residents by five-year age band, each beside the typical town (the tick).
Compared with 11% across Canada’s towns, one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24 here. Across Canada’s towns, 19% of residents are 65 or over. No age band is larger than 60–64: 8.5% of residents.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split.
Smaller households than 74% of Canadian towns: 2.2 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.
One-parent families: 10% here and 8.2% across Canada’s towns.
42% of residents 15 and over are married, below 65% of Canadian towns
Married, common-law, single: residents 15 and over.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Common-law partners: 12% here and 11% across Canada’s towns. Typically, 46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns.
More renter households than 66% of Canadian towns: 34%
Dwelling types, tenure and age of the housing. 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: 52% predate 1961, 10% date from 2001 or later. Renter households: 25% across Canada’s towns, for comparison. Higher than in 62% of Canadian towns: 73% of households live in a single-detached house. Just over one in ten homes need major repairs, against a typical 5.8%.
$60,400 a year: the median household income
Census incomes are for 2020, the year before the census, when CERB and other pandemic benefits topped up many households. Income per household, before tax, with the groups it falls into.
Households by income · share of households
Oxford’s median household took in $60,400 before tax, 30% less than the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Within Nova Scotia’s towns, the household in the middle had $69,100. 26% of income recipients received COVID-19 emergency or recovery benefits (typical: 28%).
5.7% of residents are immigrants
Where immigrants were born and when they came, and how recently residents moved in.
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
Set against 17% across Canada’s towns, 5.7% of residents are immigrants in Oxford. Residents without Canadian citizenship account for 5.2%.
A higher share of residents with no religion than 70% of Canadian towns, at 42%
Identity and faith, in the census’s categories.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Other faiths: Muslim (3%). Compared with other places, visible minority residents are scarce here: 8.2%, fewer than in just over three fifths of Canadian towns. Across Canada’s towns, residents with no religion come to 35%. 2.2% of residents have an Indigenous identity, about the same as across Canada’s towns.
English is the mother tongue of 94%, and 2.6% speak French as well
The official languages residents can speak, and the ones they learned first.
Can hold a conversation in · share of all residents
Mother tongue · share of all residents
Across Canada’s towns, 7.5% of residents speak English and French; in Oxford, 2.6%. For Oxford, the census puts residents whose mother tongue is French at 0.4%.
Oxford ranks below 80% of Canadian towns on degree holders aged 25 to 64: 16%
Education of residents 25 to 64, by highest credential.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
With no certificate, diploma or degree: 18%, beside a typical 9.5%. Measured more widely, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
Employment: 41% of residents 15 and over had a job
The census counted work in May 2021, mid-pandemic, so read these rates as a pandemic snapshot. Work, briefly: employment, unemployment, participation and working from home. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
The employment rate of 41% is below the typical 58% across Canada’s towns; 22% of residents are 65 or over.
Every neighbour of Oxford has an older population
Neighbouring places and their median ages; each name opens its page. Oxford has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 20–28 km out.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oxford | 1,261 | — | 46 | 22% | 5.7% |
| Cumberland County, Subdivision C | 6,040 | 19.7 km | 52.8 | 28% | 2.2% |
| Cumberland County, Subdivision D | 4,692 | 20.8 km | 58.4 | 35% | 5.4% |
| Springhill | 7,015 | 22.4 km | 51.6 | 27% | 1.7% |
| Amherst | 10,072 | 27.5 km | 48.8 | 26% | 3.1% |
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.
- What these tables don’t give. For origins the charts stop at visible minority and Indigenous identity, and the Census Profile has nothing on unpaid care, cars or the internet, or on change by age since 2016.
- 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.
Questions about Oxford’s residents
Is Oxford bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 2.6% are. Another 0% speak only French and 96% only English, and French is the first language of 0.4%.
How diverse is Oxford?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 17% are immigrants; here, 5.7%. A visible minority makes up 8.2% and Indigenous residents 2.2%.
What religion are people in Oxford?
Most often Christian (54%) or no religion (42%); other religions make up 4.3%.
Is Oxford good for families?
Children under 15 are 18% of residents, against 16% across Canada’s towns. Couple families make up 45% of households and one-parent families 10%. Schools near Oxford are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Oxford?
Median total household income in Oxford was $60,400 in 2020, against a median of $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Oxford?
The latest figure is an estimate: 1,261 residents in July 2025. At the 2021 Census, Oxford counted 1,170, 2% fewer than 2016.
What is the average age in Oxford?
Half the residents are older than 46 and half younger; 18% are children under 15 and 22% are 65 or over.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population · Statistics Canada, population estimates for 1 July 2025 (table 17-10-0155). 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).