Demographics of Prince Edward Island


Demographics of the province of Prince Edward Island, Canada. According to the 2011 National Household Survey, the largest ethnic group consists of people of Scottish descent, followed by English, Irish, French, German, and Dutch descent. Prince Edward Island is mostly a white community and there are few visible minorities. Chinese people are the largest visible minority group of Prince Edward Island, comprising 1.3% of the province's population. Almost half of respondents identified their ethnicity as "Canadian." Prince Edward Island is by a strong margin the most Celtic and specifically the most Scottish province in Canada and perhaps the most Scottish place in the world, outside Scotland. 38% of islanders claim Scottish ancestry, but this is an underestimate and it is thought that almost 50% of islanders have Scottish roots. When combined with Irish and Welsh, almost 80% of islanders are of some Celtic stock, albeit most families have resided in PEI for at least two centuries. Few places outside Europe can claim such a homogenous Celtic ethnic background. The only other jurisdiction in North America with such a high percentage of British Isles heritage is Newfoundland.

Population

Census Metropolitan Areas

Cities and towns

All statistics according to Canada 2016 Census, unless otherwise specified
TownPopulationPopulation Population RankingLand Area kmArea RankingDensity /kmDensity Ranking
Alberton1,1451,13574.526253.58
Borden-Carleton724750912.99555.710
Charlottetown36,09434,562144.341814.11
Cornwall5,3485,162428.193189.79
Georgetown555675101.5910348.16
Kensington1,6191,51363.019537.83
Montague1,9611,89553.168620.82
Souris1,0531,17383.477303.77
Stratford9,7068,574322.534430.85
Summerside14,82914,751228.492520.54

Population of Prince Edward Island since 1851

YearPopulationMean annual
% change		Five Year
% change		Ten Year
% change		Rank Among
Provinces
185062,678n/an/an/a5
186180,8572.6n/a29.05
187194,0211.5n/a16.35
1881108,8911.5n/a15.85
1891109,0780.017n/a0.26
1901103,259−0.55n/a-5.37
191193,728−0.96n/a-9.29
192188,615−0.56n/a-5.49
193188,038−0.065n/a-0.79
194195,0470.77n/a8.09
195198,4290.35n/a3.610
195699,2850.170.9n/a10
1961104,6291.15.46.310
1966108,5350.743.79.310
1971111,6350.562.96.710
1976118,2251.25.98.910
1981122,5060.73.69.710
1986126,6400.673.47.110
1991129,7650.492.55.910
1996134,5570.733.76.310
2001135,2940.110.54.210
2006138,5810.472.42.910
2011140,2040.251.23.610
2016142,907n/a1.93.110

Visible minorities and Aboriginals

Ethnic origins

Ethnic OriginPopulationPercent
Canadian60,00044.98%
Scottish50,70038.01%
English38,33028.74%
Irish37,17027.87%
French28,41021.30%
German5,4004.05%
Dutch 4,1303.10%
Acadian3,0202.26%
North American Indian2,3601.77%
Welsh1,4401.08%
American 640
Polish615
Italian605
Lebanese525
Danish420
Norwegian325
Ukrainian320
Swedish315
Belgian240
Métis245
Chinese225
Hungarian 225
British, not included elsewhere210
Spanish175
Jewish165
Russian160
Swiss145
Finnish135
Inuit120

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%
English138,73599.32
French17,87512.80
Mandarin2,1051.51

Mother tongue

The 2006 Canadian census showed a population of 135,851. Of the 133,570 singular responses to the question concerning mother tongue the most commonly reported languages were:
PlaceLanguagePopulationPercentage
1English125,26093.78%
2French5,3454.00%
3Dutch8650.65%
4German2750.21%
5Spanish2200.16%
6Chinese languages1900.14%
Mandarin450.03%
Cantonese150.01%
7Arabic1500.11%
8Hungarian1200.09%
9Algonquian languages950.07%
Mi'kmaq900.07%
10Serbo-Croatian languages850.07%
Serbian350.03%
Croatian200.01%
Bosnian150.01%
Serbo-Croatian150.01%
11Japanese800.06%
12Bantu languages700.05%
12Polish700.05%
14Korean650.05%
14Scandinavian languages650.05%
Danish400.03%
Swedish150.01%
Icelandic100.01%
16Frisian550.04%
16Italian550.04%
18Flemish400.03%
18Hindi400.03%
20Creole350.03%
20Urdu350.03%

There were also 30 single-language responses for Greek and Niger-Congo languages n.i.e.; 25 for Russian; 20 for Ukrainian; 15 for Finnish, Germanic languages n.i.e., Inuktitut, Maltese, Persian and Tagalog; and 10 for Czech, Estonian, Portuguese, Slovenian, Turkish and Vietnamese. 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.

Migration

Immigration

The 2006 Canadian census counted a total of 4,785 immigrants living in Prince Edward Island.
The most commonly reported origins for these immigrants were:
PlaceCountryPopulation
1United States1,255
2United Kingdom1,165
3Netherlands500
4Germany225
5Yugoslavia140
6Belgium85
7Colombia70
7South Korea70
9Australia65
9New Zealand65
11China60
11Lebanon60

There were also about fifty-five immigrants from Denmark; about fifty each from India, Japan, and Poland; about forty-five each from Hungary, Sierra Leone, and Syria; and about thirty-five from Zimbabwe.

Internal migration

Since 1971, Prince Edward Island mostly had years of positive interprovincial migration. However, in the 2010s, it turned to the negative. This interprovincial migration exceeded all immigration to the province in 2015.
In-migrantsOut-migrantsNet migration
2008–092,5223,058−536
2009–102,7092,64960
2010–112,4942,704−210
2011–122,6203,238−618
2012–132,2943,195−901
2013–142,1983,139−941
2014–152,3673,049−682
2015–162,8742,84430
2016–173,1242,680444
2017–183,1933,016177
2018–193,9223,793129

Source: Statistics Canada

Religious Groups

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlottetown comprises the entire Island and is the second oldest English diocese in Canada. The Archdiocese of Kingston is the oldest.