Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.043% of households are one person living alone, more than in 92% of Canadian towns
Set against 16% across Canada’s towns, 13% of residents are under 15 in Truro. This Nova Scotia town is home to some 14,652 people (July 2025 estimate), in 6,345 households at the 2021 Census. Households in single-detached houses account for 41%. Residents who moved in within the year are more common here than in 84% of Canadian towns.
What stands out about the people of Truro
A town of renters
58% of households rent their home, more than in 90% of Canadian towns; 53% live in an apartment. Homes ↓
Many people living alone
43% of households are one person living alone, more than in 92% of Canadian towns; 27% of residents are 65 or over. Households ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
A +6% change since 2016: Truro grew faster than 60% of Canadian towns
Figures are from the 2021 Census unless dated otherwise. How the population moved between the last two censuses, and since.
Change, 2016 to 2021
By July 2025, the estimate had risen a further 13%. Across Nova Scotia’s towns the median is +2%, and across Canada’s towns +4%.
Truro: 27% of residents are 65 or over, above 85% of Canadian towns
Residents by five-year age band, each beside the typical town (the tick).
25–29 is the most common age band: 7.3% of residents. Across the comparison, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns. With a median age of 47.6, Truro is older than 79% of Canadian towns. Little separates the share of residents aged 15 to 24 here, 11%, from the figure across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Truro, 47.6. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 86 men for every 100 women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
2 people per household, fewer than in 90% of Canadian towns
Household types, then household sizes.
Against Nova Scotia’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
One-parent families: 9.9% here and 8.2% across Canada’s towns.
A smaller share of married residents 15 and over than 75% of Canadian towns: 36%
Married, common-law, single: residents 15 and over.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
31% of adults are single and have never married; the typical town has 27%. The usual figure: 46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns. For Truro, the census puts common-law partners at 11%.
Renter households make up 58% in Truro, more than in 90% of Canadian towns
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
The share of households in buildings of five or more storeys stands at 0.1%. The wider picture: a quarter of households rent their home across Canada’s towns.
Median gross household income: $54,800 a year
The income year is 2020: a year of pandemic benefits such as CERB, which the figures count. Household income before tax: the median, and households by income group.
Households by income · share of households
The middle household in Truro had $54,800 before tax, 36% below the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). The middle household across Nova Scotia’s towns has $69,100 before tax. Pandemic benefits reached 26% of residents with an income, against a typical 28%.
6.3% 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
Most immigrants were born in Asia (46%) or in Europe (28%). Lower than in 76% of Canadian towns: 6.3% of residents are immigrants. 44% of immigrants arrived between 2011 and 2021, against 27% across Canada’s towns.
Truro ranks above 75% of Canadian towns on residents with no religion: 44%
Visible minority and Indigenous identity, then religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
10% of residents belong to a visible minority; across Canada’s towns the figure is 15%. At 4.4%, the share of Indigenous residents is higher than in 66% of Canadian towns. Against that, just over a third of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns.
92% have English as their mother tongue; 7.3% also speak French
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
On residents whose mother tongue is French, 1% here is much the same as across Canada’s towns. At home: English 95%, French 0.2%.
Above 55% of Canadian towns: 29% 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, 13% hold no certificate of any kind, against 9.5% in the typical town. Measured more widely, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
In work on census day: 48% of adults
These rates date from May 2021, during the pandemic, and run lower than a normal year’s. Work, briefly: employment, unemployment, participation and working from home. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
Fewer work here than in the typical town: 48%, against 58% across Canada’s towns. 27% of residents are 65 or over.
41 towns of 14,402 to 14,898 people: this is the 6th oldest
The Canadian towns closest in population, from youngest to oldest.
Pointe-de-Sainte-Foy is the oldest at 57, La Crète the youngest at 23.4. Next to Truro on this scale come Mountain View County (46.4), Rivière-Gatineau (47.3), Long Sault (48) and Mont-Laurier (48.8).
Median age: 1 of the 3 towns around Truro are older
The closest towns, coloured by how old their residents are.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Truro | 14,652 | — | 47.6 | 27% | 6.3% |
| Millbrook 27 | 1,122 | 3.7 km | 34.8 | 13% | 0% |
| Colchester County, Subdivision C | 14,211 | 8.0 km | 47.2 | 22% | 3.4% |
| Colchester County, Subdivision B | 21,578 | 9.9 km | 48.8 | 25% | 4.5% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The census’s own words. Indigenous identity, immigrant status and religion are as residents answered them. “Visible minority” follows the Employment Equity Act, meaning people other than Indigenous peoples who are non-white in colour or race. We compare these figures across towns; none is a label for a town.
- Against Nova Scotia’s towns and Canada’s towns. The middle of Nova Scotia’s towns of 2,500 or more comes first, the middle of all Canadian towns second; cities as a whole and First Nations reserves stay out, and percentiles are within Canada.
- What these tables don’t give. Missing from the census as published: unpaid care, cars and internet access, and the shift in each age band since 2016. Ethnic origins past visible minority and Indigenous identity aren’t charted here.
Questions about Truro’s residents
What is the average age in Truro?
The median age is 47.6, older than 79% of Canadian towns. 13% are under 15 and 27% 65 or older.
Is Truro bilingual?
7.3% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 0.1% speak French only and 92% English only. French is the mother tongue of 1%.
How diverse is Truro?
Immigrants: 6.3% (Canada’s towns: 17%). Visible minority: 10%. Indigenous identity: 4.4%.
What religion are people in Truro?
44% said they have no religion and 53% that they are Christian; 3.9% named another faith.
Is Truro good for families?
13% of residents are under 15 (Canada’s towns: 16%); couple families are 38% of households and one-parent families 9.9%. Schools near Truro are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Truro?
Half of Truro’s households had more than $54,800 in 2020, before tax; across Canada’s towns the median was $86,000.
What is the population of Truro?
About 14,652, by Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025. The 2021 Census found 12,954 people in Truro, 6% more than 2016.
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).