Photo: Unknown author Unknown author · Public domainBedford is older than 86% of Canadian towns: a median age of 50.4
In Bedford, nearly a quarter of residents said they have no religion, beside 35% across Canada’s towns. About 2,845 people lived in the town in July 2025, Statistics Canada estimates. Renter households: 46% of the total. Immigrants are rarer here than in 87% of Canadian towns.
What stands out about the people of Bedford
A bilingual town
Both official languages: 51% of residents speak English and French, more than in 91% of Canadian towns. Another 40% speak only French and 8.8% only English. English & French ↓
Many people living alone
One-person households make up 43%, more than in 93% of Canadian towns, and 28% of residents are 65 or over. Households ↓
Older than most towns
Half of Bedford’s residents are under 50.4 and half over; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 28% 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 bilingual residents than 91% of Canadian towns: 51%
All figures are the 2021 Census’s unless another date is shown. 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, 66% of residents have English as their mother tongue; in Bedford, 20%. For bilingual residents, the comparison across Canada’s towns is 7.5%.
A ±0% change since 2016: slower than 78% of Canadian towns
The census counts of 2016 and 2021, the estimate after them, and the change set beside other towns.
Change, 2016 to 2021
By July 2025, the estimate had risen a further 11%. The median across Canada’s towns is +4%, and across Quebec’s towns +4%.
A larger share of residents aged 65 and over than 88% of Canadian towns: 28%
Every five-year age group as a share of residents; ticks mark the typical town.
More residents are 60–64 than any other five-year age: 9.8% of residents, 1.4 times the share across Canada’s towns. For Bedford, the census puts residents aged 15 to 24 at 8.8%. Measured more widely, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Bedford, 50.4. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Bedford ranks above 93% of Canadian towns on one-person households: 43%
Private households by type and size.
Against Quebec’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
At 2 people, the average household compares with 2.4 across Canada’s towns. Across the comparison, 27% of households are one person living alone across Canada’s towns. Locally, 10% of households are one-parent families.
Below 93% of Canadian towns: 28% of residents 15 and over are married
How adults live as couples, or don’t, with common-law unions shown on their own.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Never married and not common-law: 30% of adults (typical: 27%). 23% of residents 15 and over live common-law, a higher share than in 86% of Canadian towns.
47% of households live in a single-detached house, fewer than in 72% of Canadian towns
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: 44% predate 1961, 11% date from 2001 or later. The benchmark for households in single-detached houses across Canada’s towns: 64%. Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in nearly three quarters of Canadian towns.
Before tax, the median household income is $55,600 a year
The income year is 2020: a year of pandemic benefits such as CERB, which the figures count. Income per household, before tax, with the groups it falls into.
Households by income · share of households
The middle household in Bedford had $55,600 before tax, 35% below the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). The figure for Quebec’s towns: $74,000. The pandemic’s benefits: 27% of income recipients, against 28% in the typical town.
3.5% 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
Immigrants here were most often born in Europe (65%), then in the Americas (24%). Bedford has fewer residents without Canadian citizenship than 89% of Canadian towns, at 1%. On residents who moved in within the year, 11% here is much the same as across Canada’s towns.
77% said they are Christian and 23% that they have no religion
Visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion, as residents answered the census.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Visible minority residents: 1.8% here and 15% across Canada’s towns. Locally, 2.2% of residents have an Indigenous identity.
A lower share of degree holders aged 25 to 64 than 82% of Canadian towns, at 15%
From no certificate to a master’s: residents 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Across Canada’s towns, 27% of 25- to 64-year-olds hold a degree; in Bedford, 15%, and 40% have a college or trades credential (typical: 29%). Those with no credential make up 19%, next to 9.5% in the typical town.
53% of adults were employed in May 2021
Counted in May 2021, during COVID-19, these rates catch the job market before it had recovered. Four labour figures from the census. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
53% of residents 15 and over have a job, against a typical 58% across Canada’s towns; 28% are 65 or more.
Oldest by rank: 13th of 41 towns of 2,809 to 2,882 people
Towns of about this size, placed by median age.
Median ages climb from 30 (McKernan) to 61.2 (Parry Sound, Unorganized, Centre Part) across the group. The closest ages to Bedford’s belong to Leeming (48.2), Senneterre (48.8), Perry (51.6) and Labelle (52.4).
Of the 6 towns nearest Bedford, 3 are older
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each links to its own page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bedford | 2,845 | — | 50.4 | 28% | 3.5% |
| Saint-Armand | 1,241 | 10.6 km | 55.2 | 30% | 8.2% |
| Sainte-Sabine | 1,123 | 13.6 km | 42.8 | 17% | 2.3% |
| Venise-en-Québec | 2,252 | 14.5 km | 59.2 | 35% | 4.3% |
| Dunham | 3,632 | 15.9 km | 48.4 | 25% | 3.7% |
| Saint-Alexandre | 2,685 | 17.0 km | 37.2 | 14% | 4.1% |
| Frelighsburg | 1,168 | 17.1 km | 56.4 | 29% | 7.7% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Quebec’s towns and Canada’s towns. Two medians frame each figure: one for Quebec’s towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, one for all Canadian towns of that size, with whole cities and First Nations reserves left out. Percentiles rank the town within Canada.
- 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. “Visible minority” is the census’s term from the Employment Equity Act: people, other than Indigenous peoples, who are non-white in colour or race. Indigenous identity, immigrant status and religion are as residents answered. The page compares them with other towns and never labels a town by them.
Questions about Bedford’s residents
Is Bedford good for families?
Children under 15 are 15% of residents, against 16% across Canada’s towns. Couple families make up 41% of households and one-parent families 10%. Schools near Bedford are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Bedford?
Median total household income in Bedford was $55,600 in 2020, against a median of $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Bedford?
The latest figure is an estimate: 2,845 residents in July 2025. At the 2021 Census, Bedford counted 2,558, about the same as 2016.
What is the average age in Bedford?
Half the residents are older than 50.4 and half younger, older than 86% of Canadian towns; 15% are children under 15 and 28% are 65 or over.
Is Bedford bilingual?
Both official languages are spoken by 51% of residents, against a typical 7.5% across Canada’s towns. 8.8% speak only English and 40% only French; 76% grew up with French.
How diverse is Bedford?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 17% are immigrants; here, 3.5%. A visible minority makes up 1.8% and Indigenous residents 2.2%.
What religion are people in Bedford?
Most often Christian (77%) or no religion (23%); other religions make up 0.2%.
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).