WellingtonPrince Edward Island
Population 1,972: a town on Prince Edward Island. Its census division is Prince.
Is Wellington a good place to live?
Housing is within reach (A−). The weak point is walkability (C−). Natural hazards are less of a worry than in most Canadian towns (A−).
Wellington has subject grades but no overall grade: Canadian towns get one from 2,500 residents.
This town's rent is the 2021 census rent scaled to 2025 by its province's ratio of surveyed to census rents: no rental survey covers it, so its Cost Grade is less sure. No Safety Grade: no police service publishes a crime rate for this place on its own. No School Grade: this province doesn't publish comparable results school by school. Health is graded on the health region's survey figures and life expectancy, with the distance to hospital giving the town its own spread.
How Wellington grades
Each subject compares Wellington with Canadian towns of 2,500 or more, ordered by how far it is from the middle. Towns in other countries are graded separately.
Wellington has subject grades but no overall grade: Canadian towns get one from 2,500 residents.
How TownRatings grades Canadian towns →
What makes Wellington stand out
The 3 things Wellington does most differently from other towns.
The data
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Wellington.
Wellington’s teenagers travel 49 km to the nearest high school
Elementary school is 34 km away at the nearest, below Prince Edward Island’s towns (56 km) but above Canadian towns (0.5 km).
| School | Level | Students | System |
|---|---|---|---|
| École ÉvangélineIn WellingtonElementary | Elementary | – | English public |
| Schools within 3 km | Wellington | Prince Edward Island | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nearest secondary school | 49 km | 76 km | 1.2 km |
| Nearest elementary school | 34 km | 56 km | 0.5 km |
Statistics Canada’s Open Database of Educational Facilities · Source note: the province publishes no results school by school, so there’s no schools grade on Prince Edward Island.
Wellington is on Canada’s flood inventory: 2 listed, led by Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action - Government of Prince Edward Island
Shared with the rest of the Prince Edward Island Health Region: radon tests
In Health Canada’s survey, just 3.5% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Seismic risk in Wellington sits near the middle: $0.031 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030.
Radon tests above the guideline · share of tested homes, 200 Bq/m³
| Hazards | Wellington | Prince Edward Island | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Radon tests above the guideline | 3.5% | 3.5% | 6.6% |
| Earthquake loss per $1,000 of buildings a year | $0.031 | $0.020 | $0.030 |
NRCan seismic risk model and burned areas, Health Canada radon survey, the Flood Hazard Map Inventory
More households own their home in Wellington than in Prince Edward Island’s towns or across Canadian towns: 94%
Shelter took 30% or more of income for 6% of households, below both Prince Edward Island’s towns (11%) and Canadian towns (18%). Rent took 17% of household income, below both Prince Edward Island’s towns (18%) and Canadian towns (20%).
What homes were worth · The median owner’s estimate at the 2021 census
| Census 2021 | Wellington | Prince Edward Island | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households spending 30%+ on shelter | 6% | 11% | 18% |
| Households owning their home | 94% | 86% | 74% |
| Rent as a share of income | 17% | 18% | 20% |
Statistics Canada, Census 2021; CMHC Rental Market Survey via Statistics Canada · These are 2021 census values, as owners judged them, set against household income in 2020.
Commuters in Wellington travel further than in Prince Edward Island’s towns or Canadian towns, 28 min on average
How working residents got to work · census 2021
| Census 2021 | Wellington | Prince Edward Island | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip | 28 min | 23 min | 26 min |
Statistics Canada, Census 2021 (labour and commuting) · These are May 2021 figures, gathered while COVID-19 kept many people home or out of work.
Precipitation in Wellington tops that of 92% of Canadian towns: 1,252 mm a year
Snow peaks in January: 67 cm in a normal year. Rain and snow peak in December, at 138 mm. A normal winter brings 292 cm of snow, near Prince Edward Island’s towns (285 cm) and higher than Canadian towns (141 cm). July afternoons in Wellington average 24.1°C.
Average high by season · ECCC normals, 1991–2020
| Normals, 1991–2020 | Wellington | Prince Edward Island | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Snowfall a year | 292 cm | 285 cm | 141 cm |
| Precipitation a year | 1,252 mm | 1,136 mm | 883 mm |
| July afternoon high | 24.1°C | 23.7°C | 25.5°C |
| January night low | −11.3°C | −11.4°C | −13.5°C |
Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Summerside)
Children make up only 14% of Wellington, fewer than in Prince Edward Island’s towns and across Canadian towns
1.4% of residents belong to a visible minority, below Prince Edward Island’s towns (3.4%) and Canadian towns (15%) alike. The 65-and-over age group makes up just over a fifth of residents.
Ages · Share of residents in each age group, Census 2021
Schooling · Highest qualification, residents 15 and over
Women and men · all residents
48.2% of Wellington’s residents are women
In 2021 there were 870 women to 935 men; Canada as a whole is 50.9% women.
| Wellington | Prince Edward Island | Canada | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 14% | 17% | 16% |
| 15 to 64 | 65% | 63% | 64% |
| 65+ | 22% | 19% | 19% |
| No certificate, diploma or degree | 24% | 14% | 16% |
| Postsecondary qualification | 44% | 61% | 56% |
Statistics Canada, Census 2021; Prince Edward Island and Canada: medians of towns of 2,500+
A normal November in Wellington runs from freezing to 7°C
The forecast on the Weather page is ECCC’s for Summerside. A normal December brings highs of 1°C, lows of −6°C. November usually brings some 19 cm of snow. Precipitation in November averages 130 mm.
Normal highs, the months ahead · ECCC normals, 1991–2020
| Season | High | Low | Rain and snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter | −2°C | −10°C | 339 mm |
| Spring | 8°C | −1°C | 270 mm |
| Summer | 23°C | 13°C | 262 mm |
| Autumn | 13°C | 5°C | 381 mm |
ECCC normals, 1991–2020 (Summerside); the forecast is on the Weather page
Bobby Morrissey (Liberal Party of Canada) holds Egmont, the riding that includes Wellington
4 of the 4 MPs from Prince Edward Island belong to the Liberal Party of Canada.
Wikidata, MAMH, MMAH, Statistics Canada
The nearest public library to Wellington is Tyne Valley Public Library, 14 km away
The next is Kensington Heritage Library (Kensington), 29 km away.
Provincial library statistics, OpenStreetMap, the CRA and Statistics Canada
51% of adults around Wellington rate their health very good or excellent
For Wellington itself the measure is access, and it lags: 21 km to the nearest hospital, where 3.7 km is typical. Statistics Canada puts the region’s life expectancy at 81.2, women 83.3 and men 79.1 (2022/2024). A pharmacy is nearer: 5.3 km on average, with 0.1 within 3 km of the typical home. Figures for health survey and life expectancy are published for the Prince Edward Island health region as a whole, not for Wellington alone.
Very good or excellent health · adults, age-standardised
| Health | Wellington | Prince Edward Island | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Very good or excellent health | 51% | 51% | 52% |
| Life expectancy at birth | 81.2 | 81.2 | 81.5 |
Statistics Canada, Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 and life expectancy 2022/2024; Open Database of Healthcare Facilities
Within 10 km of Wellington, 32% of the land is protected
Swimmers have 2 beaches within 5 km, Yeos Shore the nearest. The closest of Canada’s national parks is Prince Edward Island National Park, at 33 km. 48 km from town is Amherst Shore Provincial Park, the nearest provincial park.
Protected land · of the land within 10 km
| Outdoors | Wellington | Prince Edward Island | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protected land within 10 km | 32% | 4% | 2.3% |
| Public protected areas within 10 km | 7 | 7 | 4 |
Canadian Protected and Conserved Areas Database (CPCAD), OpenStreetMap routes and beaches
Wellington’s past, on the record: 1 historic place
Before 1961 is when 26% of the homes went up, higher than both Prince Edward Island’s towns (21%) and Canadian towns (18%).
Historic places by designation · inside the town
Among them
- Tower 1883
| Heritage | Wellington | Prince Edward Island | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1961 | 26% | 21% | 18% |
Canadian Register of Historic Places, Directory of Federal Heritage Designations, Québec’s Répertoire du patrimoine culturel, Wikidata; Census 2021 homes by period
Everything we know about Wellington
Famous people from around Wellington
2 notable people were born in Wellington; with them, the best known born in the towns around it.
Photo credits
Heather Moyse: Vincent Lions for Prince Edward Island Potatoes Board; cropped by Blackcat, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Gerard Gallant: Michael Miller, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Steve Ott: Michael Miller, CC BY-SA 3.0
About Wellington
Town in Prince Edward Island
TownRatings follows Statistics Canada’s map: Wellington is one municipality on Prince Edward Island, figures and all.
Statistics Canada: population estimates 2025 (17-10-0155), Census of Population 2021, 2021 census boundaries.
- Population
- 1,972 (people, 2025 estimate)
- Province or territory
- Prince Edward Island
- Census division
- Prince
- Census subdivision
- 1103020
Wellington’s neighbours
The nearest places of 1,000 or more. Statistics Canada
| Town | People | km | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wellington | 1,972 | — | — | A− | — | B− |
| Miscouche | 1,113 | 12 | — | B− | — | B |
| Central Prince | 1,287 | 14 | — | A | — | B− |
| Summerside | 19,006 | 18 | C− | C− | C− | B+ |
People: Statistics Canada, Census 2021. Distances: centre to centre.
Questions about Wellington
Do people in Wellington speak French?
English and French are both spoken by 55% of residents, where the median of Canadian towns is 8%. French alone: 0.8%.
Who are the people of Wellington?
At the 2021 census, 3% were immigrants and 1% belonged to a visible minority (Canadian towns’ median: 15%). 3% identify as First Nations, Métis or Inuit.
What kind of homes are in Wellington?
87% of homes are single-detached houses, against 64% for the median of Canadian towns, and 0% are in apartment buildings of five storeys or more. A household averages 2.3 people; 23% are one person living alone.
Is Wellington growing?
It went from 1,874 people in 2016 to 1,811 in 2021, down 3.4%, while the median of Canadian towns grew 4.1%. StatCan’s 2025 estimate is 1,972.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2021 · population estimates 2025 (17-10-0155) and 2021 census boundaries · CMHC rents as published by Statistics Canada (34-10-0133) · grades by TownRatings. 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).