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Focus on Geography Series, 2011 Census

Census subdivision of West Hants, MD - Nova Scotia ¹

Map of West Hants, MD

Interactive version of map

Population, 2011 and 2006 censuses

Chart A description: West Hants, MD - Population, 2011 and 2006 censuses

Prov. rank

Nat. rank

278

In 2011, West Hants (Municipal district) had a population of 14,165, representing a percentage change of 2.1% from 2006. This compares to the national average growth of 5.9%.

Land area is 1,241.95 square kilometres with a population density of 11.4 persons per square kilometre. This compares to the provincial land area of 52,939.44 square kilometres with a population density of 17.4 persons per square kilometre.

In 2011, West Hants (Municipal district) had 5,730 private dwellings occupied by usual residents. The change in private dwellings occupied by usual residents from 2006 was 5.0%. For Canada as a whole, the number of private dwellings occupied by usual residents increased 7.1%.

Population and dwelling counts

West Hants (Municipal district) – Neighbouring census subdivisions

Table 1 West Hants (Municipal district) – Neighbouring census subdivisions, population change, 2006 to 2011
Census subdivision (CSD) name	CSD type	Population
Census subdivision (CSD) name	CSD type	2011	2006	% change
Chester, N.S.	MD	10,599	10,741	-1.3
Kings, Subd. C, N.S.	SC	8,275	8,121	1.9
Kings, Subd. B, N.S.	SC	11,990	12,033	-0.4
Kings, Subd. D, N.S.	SC	5,201	5,499	-5.4
Glooscap 35, N.S.	IRI	59	60	-1.7
Windsor, N.S.	T	3,785	3,709	2.0
Hantsport, N.S.	T	1,159	1,191	-2.7
East Hants, N.S.	MD	22,111	21,397 A	3.3
Halifax, N.S.	RGM	390,096	372,679	4.7
Colchester, Subd. A, N.S.	SC	3,642	3,525	3.3
Cumberland, Subd. B, N.S.	SC	3,580	3,781	-5.3

Nova Scotia – Census subdivisions with 5,000-plus population with the highest population growth

Table 2 Nova Scotia – Census subdivisions with 5,000-plus population with the highest population growth, population change, 2006 to 2011
Census subdivision (CSD) name	CSD type	Population
Census subdivision (CSD) name	CSD type	2011	2006	% change
Antigonish, Subd. A	SC	8,253	7,730	6.8
Kentville	T	6,094	5,815	4.8
Halifax	RGM	390,096	372,679	4.7
Bridgewater	T	8,241	7,944	3.7
East Hants	MD	22,111	21,397 A	3.3

Nova Scotia – Census subdivisions with 5,000-plus population with the lowest population growth

Table 3 Nova Scotia – Census subdivisions with 5,000-plus population with the lowest population growth, population change, 2006 to 2011
Census subdivision (CSD) name	CSD type	Population
Census subdivision (CSD) name	CSD type	2011	2006	% change
Inverness, Subd. A	SC	5,280	5,859	-9.9
Digby	MD	7,463	7,986	-6.5
Yarmouth	T	6,761	7,162	-5.6
Clare	MD	8,319	8,813	-5.6
Kings, Subd. D	SC	5,201	5,499	-5.4

Age and sex

West Hants, MD – Age distribution

Chart C: West Hants, MD - Population by broad age groups

Chart C description: West Hants, MD - Population by broad age groups

Table 4 West Hants, MD – Age distributions by broad age groups and sex, 2011 Census
Age groups	Both sexes	Males	Females
0 to 14	16.7%	17.3%	16.1%
15 to 64	67.4%	67.3%	67.6%
65 and over	15.9%	15.5%	16.3%

In 2011, the percentage of the population aged 65 and over in West Hants, MD was 15.9%, compared with a national percentage of 14.8%. The percentage of the working age population (15 to 64) was 67.4% and the percentage of children aged 0 to 14 was 16.7%. In comparison, the national percentages were 68.5% for the population aged 15 to 64 and 16.7% for the population aged 0 to 14.

West Hants, MD – Population by broad age groups and sex

Table 5 West Hants, MD – Population by broad age groups, sex and population change between 2006 and 2011, 2006 to 2011 censuses
Broad age groups by sex	Population
Broad age groups by sex	2011	2006	change	% change
Both sexes
Total	14,165	13,870	295	2.1
0 to 14	2,365	2,345	20	0.9
15 to 64	9,550	9,545	5	0.1
65 and over	2,250	1,980	270	13.6
Males
Total	7,015	6,870	145	2.1
0 to 14	1,215	1,175	40	3.4
15 to 64	4,720	4,740	-20	-0.4
65 and over	1,085	955	130	13.6
Females
Total	7,145	7,000	145	2.1
0 to 14	1,150	1,170	-20	-1.7
15 to 64	4,830	4,805	25	0.5
65 and over	1,165	1,025	140	13.7

West Hants, MD – Population by five-year age groups and sex

Chart D description: West Hants, MD - Population by five-year age groups and sex

Table 6 West Hants, MD – Population by five-year age groups and sex, 2011 Census
Age groups	Both sexes	Males	Females
Total - Age groups	14,165	7,015	7,145
0 to 4 years	730	410	325
5 to 9 years	775	365	415
10 to 14 years	855	440	420
15 to 19 years	865	445	425
20 to 24 years	645	330	315
25 to 29 years	610	300	310
30 to 34 years	725	340	385
35 to 39 years	965	450	515
40 to 44 years	1,010	505	510
45 to 49 years	1,295	650	645
50 to 54 years	1,260	635	625
55 to 59 years	1,145	545	600
60 to 64 years	1,030	520	510
65 to 69 years	835	410	425
70 to 74 years	595	300	300
75 to 79 years	375	190	185
80 to 84 years	260	115	140
85 years and over	185	70	115
Median age	44.5	44.3	44.7

West Hants, MD – Median age² of the population

Chart E: Canada, Nova Scotia and West Hants, MD - Median age, 2006 and 2011 censuses

Chart E description: Canada, Nova Scotia and West Hants, MD - Median age, 2006 and 2011 censuses

In 2011, the median age in West Hants, MD was 44.5 years. In comparison, the median age of Nova Scotia was 43.7 years.

Table 7 Canada, Nova Scotia and West Hants, MD – Median age, 2006 and 2011 censuses
	Median age
	2006	2011
Canada	39.5	40.6
Nova Scotia	41.8	43.7
West Hants, MD	42.3	44.5

Families and households

In 2011, the number of census families³ in West Hants was 4,535, which represents a change of 2.6% from 2006. This compares to a growth rate for Canada of 5.5% over the same period.

In West Hants, 70.5% of census families were married couples in 2011, while 16.6% were common-law-couples and 13.0% were lone-parent families.

Chart F: West Hants - Census families by family structure

Chart F description: West Hants - Census families by family structure

West Hants – Family structure

Table 8 Canada, Nova Scotia, CSD of West Hants, MD and neighbouring census subdivisions – Distribution of census families by family structure, 2011 Census
Geographic name	Total families	Married-couple families		Common-law-couple families		Lone-parent families		% change, census families, 2006 to 2011
Geographic name	Total families	number	%	number	%	number	%	% change, census families, 2006 to 2011
Canada †	9,389,695	6,293,950	67.0	1,567,905	16.7	1,527,840	16.3	5.5
Nova Scotia	270,065	184,870	68.5	38,460	14.2	46,735	17.3	1.0
West Hants, MD	4,535	3,195	70.5	755	16.6	590	13.0	2.6
Chester, MD	3,425	2,400	70.1	560	16.4	465	13.6	3.0
Kings, Subd. C, SC	2,490	1,735	69.7	320	12.9	435	17.5	2.5
Kings, Subd. B, SC	3,700	2,470	66.8	575	15.5	655	17.7	-0.4
Kings, Subd. D, SC	1,620	1,175	72.5	230	14.2	215	13.3	-4.1
Glooscap 35, IRI	15	10	66.7	0	0.0	10	66.7	0.0
Windsor, T	985	600	60.9	150	15.2	235	23.9	5.9
Hantsport, T	360	275	76.4	35	9.7	55	15.3	0.0
East Hants, MD	6,800	4,905	72.1	1,005	14.8	885	13.0	3.3
Halifax, RGM	109,690	74,425	67.9	16,920	15.4	18,340	16.7	4.3
Colchester, Subd. A, SC	1,135	825	72.7	160	14.1	145	12.8	1.8
Cumberland, Subd. B, SC	1,170	875	74.8	145	12.4	145	12.4	-6.0

West Hants – Presence of children within couple families

Among couples (married and common-law) in the census subdivision of West Hants, 39.8% were couples with children aged 24 and under at home. In comparison, as a whole, 46.9% of couples in Canada had children aged 24 and under at home.

Presence of children within couple families
* Children aged 24 and under at home
Married couples with children *	1,260
Married couples without children *	1,930
Common-law-couples with children *	305
Common-law-couples without children *	445

West Hants – Marital status

Chart H description: West Hants - Marital status

In West Hants, 67.2% of the total population aged 15 and over were either married (54.4%) or living with a common-law partner (12.8%).

The remaining 32.8% were not married and not living with a common-law partner, including those who were single (never-married), separated, divorced or widowed.

Note: Percentages may not total 100 percent due to random rounding.

Table 9 Canada, Nova Scotia, West Hants, MD – Population 15 years and older by marital status, 2011 Census
Marital status	West Hants, MD		Nova Scotia		Canada
Marital status	number	%	number	%	number	%
Total - Population 15 years and over	11,800	100.0	783,510	100.0	27,869,345	100.0
Married or living with a common-law partner	7,930	67.2	453,095	57.8	16,084,490	57.7
Married (and not separated)	6,420	54.4	376,020	48.0	12,941,965	46.4
Living common-law	1,505	12.8	77,075	9.8	3,142,525	11.3
Not married and not living with a common-law partner	3,870	32.8	330,420	42.2	11,784,855	42.3
Single (never legally married)	2,340	19.8	209,180	26.7	7,816,045	28.0
Separated	290	2.5	23,545	3.0	698,245	2.5
Divorced	605	5.1	46,060	5.9	1,686,035	6.0
Widowed	635	5.4	51,625	6.6	1,584,525	5.7

West Hants – Types of private households

There were 5,730 private households⁴ in West Hants in 2011, a change of 4.9% from 2006. Of these, 26.5% of households were comprised of couples with children aged 24 and under at home, a change of -1.3% compared with five years earlier.

Table 10 Canada, Nova Scotia, West Hants, MD – Distribution of households by household type, 2011 Census
Household type⁵	West Hants, MD		Nova Scotia		Canada
Household type⁵	number	%	number	%	number	%
Total private households	5,730	100.0	390,280	100.0	13,320,615	100.0
Couple-family households with children aged 24 and under at home⁶	1,520	26.5	88,450	22.7	3,524,915	26.5
Couple-family households without children aged 24 and under at home⁷	2,270	39.6	128,065	32.8	3,935,540	29.5
Lone-parent family households⁸	520	9.1	42,445	10.9	1,375,450	10.3
One-person households	1,185	20.7	108,795	27.9	3,673,310	27.6
Multiple family households⁹	115	2.0	5,495	1.4	268,060	2.0
Other households¹⁰	125	2.2	17,030	4.4	543,340	4.1

West Hants – Structural type of dwelling

In West Hants, 91.4% of private households lived in single-detached houses and 0.1% lived in apartments in buildings that have five or more storeys. The rest lived in other types of dwelling structures.

Table 11 Canada, Nova Scotia, West Hants, MD – Distribution of private households by structural type of dwelling, 2011 Census
Structural type of dwelling	West Hants, MD		Nova Scotia		Canada
Structural type of dwelling	number	%	number	%	number	%
Total - Structural type of dwelling	5,730	100.0	390,280	100.0	13,320,615	100.0
Single-detached house	5,240	91.4	260,435	66.7	7,329,150	55.0
Semi-detached house	40	0.7	19,450	5.0	646,240	4.9
Row house	5	0.1	9,175	2.4	791,600	5.9
Apartment, building that has five or more storeys	5	0.1	17,880	4.6	1,234,770	9.3
Apartment, building that has fewer than five storeys	110	1.9	56,485	14.5	2,397,555	18.0
Apartment, duplex	30	0.5	11,970	3.1	704,485	5.3
Other single-attached house¹¹	5	0.1	705	0.2	33,310	0.3
Movable dwelling¹²	300	5.2	14,175	3.6	183,510	1.4

Language

West Hants, MD – Mother tongue

Chart J description: West Hants, MD - Mother tongue and language spoken most often at home

Note: Counts for mother tongue as well as those for language spoken most often at home include single responses only.

In West Hants, 97.7% of the population reported English only as mother tongue, 1.0% reported French only, and 1.1% reported a non-official language only, in 2011. In comparison, the provincial / territorial percentages were 91.8% for English only, 3.4% for French only and 4.1% for only non-official languages.

In 2011, 99.2% of the population spoke only English most often at home, 0.4% spoke only French and 0.3% spoke only a non-official language. In comparison, the provincial / territorial percentages were 95.4% for only English, 1.8% for only French and 2.0% for only a non-official language.

Table 12 West Hants, MD – Mother tongue and language spoken most often at home, 2011 Census
Selected languages	Mother tongue		Language spoken most often at home
Selected languages	number	%	number	%
Total	14,135	100.0	14,135	100.0
English	13,810	97.7	14,025	99.2
French	140	1.0	50	0.4
Non-official language	150	1.1	40	0.3
Multiple responses	30	0.2	15	0.1

Table 13 West Hants, MD – Mother-tongue retention, 2011 Census
Mother tongue	Mother-tongue retention¹³ (in percentage)
Mother tongue	Total retention; language spoken at home at least on a regular basis	Complete retention; language spoken most often at home	Partial retention; language spoken at home on a regular basis
Note: Counts for mother tongue and home language include single response of a language as well as multiple responses of a language with English and/or French.
English	99.8	99.8	0.0
French	41.9	19.4	22.6
Non-official language	47.1	23.5	23.5

West Hants, MD – Non-official languages

In West Hants, the three most common mother tongues were German (0.2%), Dutch (0.2%) and Korean (0.1%), in 2011. In comparison, the most common mother tongues at the provincial / territorial level were Arabic (0.7%), Mi'kmaq (0.5%) and German (0.4%).

Table 14 West Hants, MD – The most common non-official-language mother tongues, 2011 Census
Mother tongue	Number	Percentage of non-official language mother-tongue population	Percentage of total population
Note: Counts for mother tongue and home language include single response of a language as well as multiple responses of a language with English and/or French.
German	35	20.6	0.2
Dutch	25	14.7	0.2
Korean	15	8.8	0.1
Spanish	15	8.8	0.1

West Hants, MD – Bilingualism

Table 15 West Hants, MD – Rate of English-French bilingualism by mother tongue and age groups, 2011 Census
Age groups	Mother tongue
Age groups	Total	English	French	Non-official language
Note: Counts for mother tongue include single responses only. Consequently, the total excludes multiple responses.
Total	4.5	3.7	85.7	9.7
0 to 19	6.7	6.3	66.7	25.0
20 to 44	5.6	4.5	87.5	0.0
45 to 64	3.3	2.1	85.7	9.1
65 and over	2.2	1.2	75.0	12.5

Table 16 West Hants, MD – Knowledge of official languages, 2011 Census
Knowledge of official languages	Number	Percentage
Total	14,135	100.0
English only	13,470	95.3
French only	5	0.0
English and French	645	4.6
Neither English nor French	5	0.0

Symbols:

···: not applicable
†: excludes census data for one or more incompletely enumerated Indian reserves or Indian settlements. For further information, refer to Notes.
¶: incompletely enumerated Indian reserve or Indian settlement. For further information, refer to Notes.
A: adjusted figure due to boundary change. For further information, refer to Content considerations.
E: use with caution. For further information, refer to Cautionary note.

Footnotes

Footnote 1

West Hants MD (Nova Scotia) – This census subdivision has the following data quality indicators (commonly referred to as data quality flags):

2006 adjusted count; most of these are the result of boundary changes.

Return to footnote 1 referrer

Footnote 2

Median age: Age 'x' that divides a population in two groups of the same population size, one group being older than age 'x' and the other group being younger than age 'x'.

Return to footnote 2 referrer

Footnote 3

Census family: Refers to a married couple (with or without children), a common-law couple (with or without children) or a lone parent family.

Return to footnote 3 referrer

Footnote 4

Household, private: Refers to a person or a group of persons (other than foreign residents) who occupy a private dwelling and do not have a usual place of residence elsewhere in Canada.

Return to footnote 4 referrer

Footnote 5

Household type: Refers to the basic division of private households into family and non-family households. Family household refers to a household that contains at least one census family, that is, a married couple with or without children, or a couple living in common-law with or without children or a lone parent living with one or more children.

Return to footnote 5 referrer

Footnote 6

Couple-family households with children: Refers to couple households with at least one child aged 24 and under.

Return to footnote 6 referrer

Footnote 7

Couple-family households without children: Refers to couple households without children aged 24 and under. Includes couple households with all children aged 25 and over.

Return to footnote 7 referrer

Footnote 8

Lone-parent-family households: Refers to all lone-parent family households regardless of age of children.

Return to footnote 8 referrer

Footnote 9

Multiple-family households: Refers to a household in which two or more census families (with or without additional persons) occupy the same private dwelling.

Return to footnote 9 referrer

Footnote 10

Other households: Refers to two or more people who share a private dwelling, but who do not constitute a census family.

Return to footnote 10 referrer

Footnote 11

Other single-attached house: A single dwelling that is attached to another building and that does not fall into any of the other categories, such as a single dwelling attached to a non-residential structure (e.g., a store or a church) or occasionally to another residential structure (e.g., an apartment building).

Return to footnote 11 referrer

Footnote 12

Movable dwelling includes mobile homes and other movable dwellings such as houseboats and railroad cars.

Return to footnote 12 referrer

Footnote 13

Mother-tongue retention: Retention refers to the situation where people speak their mother tongue at home. Retention is defined as 'complete' when the mother tongue is the language spoken most often and 'partial' when it is spoken on a regular basis but not most often. The (complete or partial) retention rate refers to the proportion of the population with a given mother tongue that speaks that language at home most often or on a regular basis. The retention rate provides an indication of a group's linguistic vitality, particularly the importance of transmitting languages between generations.

Return to footnote 13 referrer

Source:

Statistics Canada. 2012. Focus on Geography Series, 2011 Census. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-310-XWE2011004. Ottawa, Ontario. Analytical products, 2011 Census. Last updated October 24, 2012.

Related data:

2011 Census Topic-based tabulations – Census subdivision of West Hants, Municipal district - Nova Scotia
2011 Census Highlight tables – Census subdivision of West Hants, Municipal district - Nova Scotia
2011 Census Data Navigator – Census subdivision of West Hants, Municipal district - Nova Scotia
2011 NHS Focus on Geography Series – Census subdivision of West Hants, Municipal district - Nova Scotia

Date modified:: 2019-03-27

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Focus on Geography Series, 2011 Census