Demographics of Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia (Latin for New Scotland; Scottish Gaelic: Alba Nuadh; French: Nouvelle-Écosse) is a Canadian province located on Canada's southeastern coast. It is the most populous province in the Atlantic Canada, and its capital, Halifax, is a major economic centre of the region. Nova Scotia is the second smallest province in Canada, with an area of 55,284 km². Its population of 934,405^[1] makes it the fourth least populous province of the country.

Population

Nova Scotia is the seventh most populous province in Canada with an estimated 936,988 residents as of January 1, 2006. It accounts for 3% of the population of Canada. The population density is approximately 17.2 persons/km². Roughly 60% of the population live in rural parts of the province.

Most populous urban areas

The largest urban area in Nova Scotia is that surrounding Halifax.
2006 census population figures for the next biggest urban areas are shown in the table below:

Rank	Urban area	2006 population
1.	Halifax	282,924
2.	Sydney	33,012
3.	Truro	22,376
4.	New Glasgow	20,876
5.	Glace Bay	19,968
6.	Sydney Mines	15,500
7.	Kentville	14,613
8.	New Waterford	9,661
9.	Amherst	9,547
10.	Bridgewater	8,021
11.	Yarmouth	7,162
12.	Kingston - Greenwood	6,528
13.	Antigonish	4,665
14.	Windsor	3,986
15.	Springhill	3,941
16.	Pictou	3,813
17.	Wolfville	3,772
18.	Lake Echo	3,527
19.	Port Hawkesbury	3,517
20.	Enfield	3,415
21.	Liverpool	2,759
22.	Berwick	2,524
23.	Lunenburg	2,317
24.	Digby	2,097
25.	Shelburne	1,879

Source: Statistics Canada ^[2]

Population of Nova Scotia since 1851

Year Population  % change Rank* 5-year 10-year 1851 276,854 – – 3 1861 330,857 – 19.5 1871 387,800 – 17.2 1881 440,572 – 13.6 1891 450,396 – 2.2 1901 459,574 – 2.0 1911 492,338 – 7.1 4 1921 523,837 – 6.4 7 1931 512,846 – 2.1 1941 577,962 – 12.7 1951 642,584 – 11.2

Year Population  % change Rank* 5-year 10-year 1956 694,717 8.1 – 7 1961 737,007 6.1 14.7 1966 756,039 2.6 8.8 1971 788,965 4.4 7.0 1976 828,570 5.0 9.6 1981 847,442 2.3 7.4 1986 873,175 3.0 5.4 1991 899,942 3.1 6.2 1996 909,282 1.0 4.1 2001 908,007 0.1 0.9 2006 913,462 0.6 2.8

Source: Statistics Canada ^[3][1]
* among provinces.
** Preliminary 2006 census estimate.

Languages

The 2006 Canadian census showed a population of 913,462.
Of the 899,270 singular responses to the census question concerning mother tongue the most commonly reported languages were:

1.	English	832,105	92.53%
2.	French	32,540	3.62%
3.	Arabic	4,425	0.49%
4.	Algonquian languages	4,120	0.46%
	Mi'kmaq	4,060	0.45%
5.	German	4,045	0.45%
6.	Chinese languages	3,370	0.37%
	Mandarin	595	0.07%
	Cantonese	505	0.06%
7.	Dutch	2,440	0.27%
8.	Polish	1,570	0.17%
9.	Spanish	1,305	0.15%
10.	Greek	1,035	0.12%
11.	Italian	905	0.10%
12.	Korean	860	0.10%
13.	Persian	715	0.08%
14.	Serbo-Croatian languages	670	0.07%
	Croatian	250	0.03%
	Serbo-Croatian	235	0.03%
	Bosnian	95	0.01%
	Serbian	85	0.01%
15.	Scandinavian languages	615	0.07%
	Danish	235	0.03%
	Norwegian	175	0.02%
	Icelandic	120	0.01%
	Swedish	80	0.01%
16.	Russian	585	0.06%
17.	Portuguese	560	0.06%
18.	Urdu	550	0.06%
19.	Vietnamese	500	0.06%
20.	Ukrainian	440	0.05%
21.	Panjabi	420	0.05%
22.	Tagalog	415	0.05%
23.	Hindi	410	0.05%
24.	Bengali	395	0.04%
25.	Hungarian	340	0.04%
26.	Celtic languages	330	0.04%
	Gaelic languages	305	0.03%
27.	Japanese	290	0.03%
28.	Gujarati	220	0.02%
29.	Czech	180	0.02%
30.	Romanian	170	0.02%

There were also 145 single-language responses for Turkish; 140 for Non-verbal languages (Sign languages); 125 for Malay; 120 for Bantu languages; 100 for Kurdish; 100 for Slovak; and 95 for Estonian. In addition, there were also 105 responses of English and a non-official language; 25 of French and a non-official language; 495 of English and French; and 10 of English, French, and a non-official language. Figures shown are for the number of single language responses and the percentage of total single-language responses.^[4]

Migration

Immigration

The 2006 Canadian census counted a total of 45,195 immigrants living in Nova Scotia.
The most commonly reported origins for these immigrants were: ^[5]

	Country	Immigrants
1.	United Kingdom	11,665
2.	United States	7,960
3.	Germany	2,850
4.	Netherlands	1,830
5.	China	1,740
6.	India	1,440
7.	Lebanon	1,265
8.	Poland	970
9.	Kuwait	780
10.	Egypt	675
11.	former Yugoslavia	670
12.	Greece	545
13.	Italy	540
14.	France	530
15.	Iran	520
16.	Pakistan	450
17.	South Korea	430
18.	Ireland (Eire)	425
19.	Philippines	420
20.	Vietnam	375

There were also 365 immigrants from Australia; 320 from South Africa; 280 from Hong Kong; 255 from Saudi Arabia; 245 from Iraq and from Trinidad and Tobago; 225 from Hungary and from Russia; 220 from Portugal; 215 from Switzerland; 210 from Denmark; and 205 from Belize.

Internal migration

A total of 101,035 people moved to Nova Scotia from other parts of Canada between 1996 and 2006 while 110,335 people moved in the opposite direction. These movements resulted in a net outmigration of 11,925 people to Alberta and 4,120 to Ontario; as well as a net influx of 4,690 people from Newfoundland and Labrador and 2,930 from New Brunswick. During this period there was a net outmigration of 835 francophones to Quebec and 340 to Alberta; and a net influx of 575 anglophones from Quebec and 145 francophones from New Brunswick. (All net inter-provincial movements of more than 500 persons and official minority movements of more than 100 persons are given.)^[6][7]

Religion

According to the 2001 census 36.5% of Nova Scotians were Roman Catholic, while 15.9% belonged to the United Church of Canada and 13.4% were Anglican. About 10.6% of the population identified as Baptist, 2.5% as Presbyterian, 1.7% as simply Protestant, 1.2% as Lutheran, 1.1% as simply Christian, and 1.0% as Pentecostal. 0.5% of the population reported belonging to the Jehovah's Witnesses, and 0.4% to the Salvation Army; while 0.4% identified as Muslim, 0.3% as Mormon, 0.2% as Wesleyan, 0.2% as Jewish, 0.2% as Greek Orthodox, 0.2% as Buddhist, and 0.2% as Seventh-day Adventist. 11.6% said they had no religion. ^[8]

Employment

As of November 2009, the unemployment rate is 9.2 percent. ^[9]

Income

Median Household Income

By County

By Community

Rank County 2006 1 Halifax County $54,108 2 Hants County $49,630 3 Antigonish County $49,581 Nova Scotia $46,605 4 Inverness County $45,687 5 Kings County $44,744 6 Victoria County $44,134 7 Pictou County $43,475 8 Lunenburg County $43,257 9 Colchester County $42,782 10 Yarmouth County $41,744 11 Shelburne County $40,514 12 Cape Breton County $40,451 13 Richmond County $40,188 14 Queens County $39,972 15 Cumberland County $38,433 16 Digby County $38,284 17 Annapolis County $37,024 18 Guysborough County $34,894

Rank Community 2006 1 Halifax Regional Municipality $54,129 2 Hantsport $49,283 3 Port Hawkesbury $48,141 Nova Scotia $46,605 4 Kentville $44,164 5 Berwick $43,730 6 Trenton $43,687 7 Pictou $41,905 8 Stewiacke $41,787 9 Cape Breton Regional Municipality $41,257 10 Middleton $40,351 11 Mulgrave $40,339 12 Stellarton $40,252 13 Bridgewater $40,123 14 New Glasgow $39,979 15 Westville $38,262 16 Bridgetown $38,248 17 Antigonish $38,100 18 Lunenburg $37,822 19 Oxford $37,734 20 Truro $37,056 21 Springhill $36,995 22 Wolfville $36,979 23 Amherst $36,539 24 Annapolis Royal $36,480 25 Mahone Bay $36,374 26 Clark's Harbour $35,830 27 Shelburne $35,341 28 Windsor $34,414 29 Lockeport $33,854 30 Yarmouth $31,584 31 Canso $30,502 32 Digby $28,551 33 Parrsboro $27,472

Gross Domestic Product

Nova Scotia GDP is presently approximately $33 billion (Can) annually.

See also

BC

AB

SK

MB

ON

QC

NB

PE

NS

NL

YT

NT

NU

Demographics of Canada's provinces and territories

• Demographics of Canada
• List of Canadian provinces and territories by population

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Canada's population. Statistics Canada. Last accessed September 28, 2006.
2. ^ Population and dwelling counts, for Canada, provinces and territories, and urban areas (2006 Census)
3. ^ Population urban and rural, by province and territory (Nova Scotia). Statistics Canada, 2005.
4. ^ Detailed Mother Tongue (186), Knowledge of Official Languages (5), Age Groups (17A) and Sex (3) (2006 Census)
5. ^ Immigrant Status and Period of Immigration (8) and Place of Birth (261) (2006 Census)
6. ^ Province or Territory of Residence 5 Years Ago (14), Mother Tongue (8), Age Groups (16) and Sex (3) (2006 Census)
7. ^ Province or Territory of Residence 5 Years Ago (14), Mother Tongue (8), Age Groups (16) and Sex (3) (2001 census)
8. ^ Religion (95A), Age Groups (7A)
9. ^ http://www.gov.ns.ca/finance/publish/lmm/LMM0911.pdf Unemployment rate