Demographics of Nova Scotia


Nova Scotia 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. As of 2016, it has a population of 923,598 making it the second most densely populated province of the country.

Population

Nova Scotia is the seventh most populous province in Canada with an estimated 965,382 residents in 2019. It accounts for less than 3 percent of the population of Canada while the population density is approximately 17.4 per square kilometer. Furthermore, 60% of the population live in rural parts of the province.

Regional municipalities

Nova Scotia has three regional municipalities.

Towns

Nova Scotia has 26 towns, not including the former Town of Canso that dissolved to become part of Guysborough County on July 1, 2012 and the former Towns of Bridgetown and Springhill which dissolved on April 1, 2015.

Population centres

The Halifax population centre is the largest urban area in Nova Scotia. Statistics Canada recognizes a total of 37 population centres in the province.

Population of Nova Scotia since 1851

Ethnic origin

Note: the percentages do not necessarily add up to 100% as multiple responses are allowed. Ethnic origins with less than 2% of the responses are not listed.

Visible minorities and Aboriginals

Languages

Knowledge of languages

The question on knowledge of languages allows for multiple responses. The following figures are from the 2016 Canadian Census, and lists languages that were selected by at least one per cent of respondents.
LanguageResponses%
English905,02099.63
French95,74010.54
Arabic9,6851.07

Mother tongue

The 2011 Canadian census showed a population of 921,727.
Of the 904,285 singular responses to the census question concerning mother tongue the most commonly reported languages were:
RankingLanguagePopulationPercentage
1.English836,08592.46%
2.French31,1053.44%
3.Arabic5,9650.66%
4.Algonquian languages4,6850.52%
Mi'kmaq4,6200.51%
5.German3,2750.36%
6.Chinese2,7500.30%
Mandarin9050.10%
Cantonese5900.06%
7.Dutch1,7250.19%
8.Spanish1,5450.17%
9.Canadian Gaelic12750.14%
=10.Tagalog Language1.1850.13%
=10.Persian1,1850.13%
11.Polish8250.09%
=12.Korean8150.09%
=12.Russian8150.09%
14.Italian7900.09%
15.Greek7750.08%
16.Scandinavian languages5950.06%
Danish1750.02%
Norwegian1250.02%
Icelandic1200.01%
Swedish850.01%
17.Urdu5400.06%
18.Serbo-Croatian languages5200.06%
Croatian2100.02%
Serbo-Croatian1050.01%
Bosnian900.01%
Serbian1150.01%
19.Hindi5150.06%
20.Vietnamese4500.05%
21.Portuguese3800.04%
22.Bengali3750.04%
23.Panjabi3700.04%
24.Celtic languages3300.04%
---
25.Japanese3050.03%
26.Ukrainian3000.03%
27.Hungarian2800.03%
28.Czech1800.02%
29.Romanian1700.02%
30.Gujarati1050.01%

There were also 275 single-language responses for Turkish; 195 for Non-verbal languages ; 30 for Malay; 100 for Bantu languages; 70 for Kurdish; 120 for Slovak; and 5 for Estonian. Figures shown are for the number of single language responses and the percentage of total single-language responses.

Migration

Immigration

The 2016 Canadian census counted a total of 55,675 immigrants living in Nova Scotia.
The most commonly reported origins for these immigrants were:
CountryImmigrants
1.United Kingdom11,275
2.United States7,375
3.China2,850
4.Germany2,600
5.Philippines2,570
6.India2,225
7.Netherlands1,645
8.Lebanon1,370
9.Syria1,150
10.Iran970
11.South Korea870
12.Egypt770
13.Poland630
14.Pakistan615
15.France610
16.Russian Federation585
17.Italy525
18.Iraq525
19.Greece505
20.Jamaica480

There were also 475 immigrants from the Republic of Ireland; 460 from South Africa; 450 from Vietnam; 350 from Nigeria; 335 from Ukraine; 325 from Mexico; 315 from Bangladesh; 310 from Sri Lanka; 280 from Hong Kong; 225 from Japan; 225 from Taiwan; 220 from Trinidad and Tobago; 220 from Portugal; and 210 from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Recent immigration

The 2016 Canadian census counted a total of 11,785 recent immigrants living in Nova Scotia, defined as "an immigrant who first obtained his or her landed immigrant or permanent resident status between January 1, 2011 and May 10, 2016."
The most commonly reported origins for these recent immigrants were:
CountryImmigrants
1.Philippines1,500
2.United Kingdom1,080
3.China985
4.India900
5.Syria890
6.United States615
7.Israel290
8.Iran260
9.Iraq245
10.South Korea225
11.Germany215
12.Egypt205
13.Nigeria200
14.Jamaica195
15.Nepal185
16.Russian Federation180
17.Pakistan145
18.Ukraine140
19.Saudi Arabia125
20.France110

There were also 105 recent immigrants from Mexico; 100 from Sri Lanka; 100 from Turkey; 95 from Brazil; 80 from South Africa; 80 from Bangladesh; 75 from the Republic of Ireland; 75 from Lebanon; 70 from Cuba; 70 from Eritrea; 70 from Japan; 70 from the United Arab Emirates; 65 from Vietnam; and 55 from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Internal migration

From 1971 to 2012, Nova Scotia had a persistent negative trend in net interprovincial migration. Combined with a declining birth rate, this poses a significant demographic challenge for the province, as its population is projected to decline from 948,000 people in 2011 to 926,000 people in 2038. The destination for Nova Scotia migrants was most often Ontario, until the turn of the 21st century when Alberta became a more popular destination; New Brunswick ranks as a distant third.
In-migrantsOut-migrantsNet migration
2008–0915,46716,218−751
2009–1015,17214,560612
2010–1114,55314,594−41
2011–1214,41017,276−2,866
2012–1312,63016,147−3,517
2013–1413,40215,973−2,571
2014–1513,85416,165−2,311
2015–1615,10714,353754
2016–1715,33912,5002,839
2017–1815,50912,4613,048
2018–1917,32414,0183,306

Source: Statistics Canada

Religion

ReligionPopulationPct
Catholic298,27032.92%
No religious affiliation197,66521.81%
United Church109,70012.10%
Anglican100,12011.05%
Baptist80,8158.92%
Other Christian55,5556.13%
Presbyterian23,5552.60%
Pentecostal9,5951.06%
Lutheran9,4851.05%
Muslim8,5050.94%
Christian Orthodox3,3700.37%
Other religions2,7200.30%
Buddhist2,2050.24%
Hindu1,8500.20%
Jewish1,8050.20%
Traditional Spirituality5700.06%
Sikh3900.04%

Employment

As of February 2019, the unemployment rate for the province is 6.4 percent. Halifax Regional Municipality 4.9 percent

Income

Gross domestic product

Nova Scotia GDP is presently approximately $33 billion annually.