#1Cornwall
Prince Edward Island · 7,920 peopleOverall B+·#652 of 2,556
Strongest: jobs & income A, hazard risk A·lowest: walkability C
Cornwall, #1 on this list · Photo: Quintin Soloviev (CC BY 4.0)Prince Edward Island · 2026
Fastest-growing towns in Prince Edward Island
The middle of the list is Three Rivers, with +10.0%. The list ends with Kensington, Part 1, at −2.5%. Cornwall is #19 of 1,117 on the list for all of Canada. Of the places on this list, only one makes the national top 100. First place on Prince Edward Island goes to Cornwall, with +22.9%. Stratford takes second place with +12.5%; West River is third with +11.7%.
Population change between the 2016 and 2021 censuses, on 2021 boundaries, for places of 2,500 people or more in 2016 (a city’s neighbourhoods have no 2016 count, so they are not on this list) How grades work
#1+22.9% Growth, 2016–2021
#2Stratford
Prince Edward Island · 13,152 peopleOverall B+·#654 of 2,556
Strongest: jobs & income A+, hazard risk A·lowest: walkability C
#3West River
Prince Edward Island · 4,155 peopleOverall A−·#500 of 2,556
Strongest: hazard risk A, jobs & income A−·lowest: walkability C−
All 8, ranked on Prince Edward Island
Best first on Prince Edward Island; beside each place, its rank on the same list for all of Canada.
#TownGrowth, 2016–2021Canada rankWhat drives it
1Cornwall7,920 people+22.9%#19 of 1,117Strongest: jobs & income A, hazard risk A·lowest: walkability C
2Stratford13,152 people+12.5%#113 of 1,117Strongest: jobs & income A+, hazard risk A·lowest: walkability C
3West River4,155 people+11.7%#134 of 1,117Strongest: hazard risk A, jobs & income A−·lowest: walkability C−
4New Glasgow5,502 people+10.9%#155 of 1,117Strongest: hazard risk A, safety A−·lowest: walkability C−
5Three Rivers9,322 people+10.0%#190 of 1,117Strongest: hazard risk A, health B·lowest: jobs & income D
6Summerside19,006 people+7.8%#292 of 1,117Strongest: hazard risk A−, walkability B+·lowest: safety C−
7Charlottetown48,118 people+7.5%#308 of 1,117Strongest: walkability A, hazard risk A·lowest: cost of living D
8Kensington, Part 13,357 people−2.5%#1,005 of 1,117Strongest: jobs & income A, hazard risk A−·lowest: walkability D
Rankings
More lists for Prince Edward Island
Province by province
Fastest-growing elsewhere
Photos: Cornwall, Quintin Soloviev (CC BY 4.0) · Stratford, Larry from Charlottetown, PEI, Canada (CC BY 2.0) · West River, William Matheson from Bedford, Nova Scotia, Canada (CC BY-SA 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons.
Sources: TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranking Canadian towns against each other only, run #73 of 10 November 2026. 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).