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Focus on Geography Series, 2011 Census

Census subdivision of Fort St. John, CY - British Columbia

Map of Fort St. John, CY

Interactive version of map

Population, 2011 and 2006 censuses

Chart A description: Fort St. John, CY - Population, 2011 and 2006 censuses

Prov. rank

Nat. rank

218

In 2011, Fort St. John (City) had a population of 18,609, representing a percentage change of 6.9% from 2006. This compares to the national average growth of 5.9%.

Land area is 22.69 square kilometres with a population density of 820.2 persons per square kilometre. This compares to the provincial land area of 922,509.29 square kilometres with a population density of 4.8 persons per square kilometre.

In 2011, Fort St. John (City) had 7,480 private dwellings occupied by usual residents. The change in private dwellings occupied by usual residents from 2006 was 8.8%. For Canada as a whole, the number of private dwellings occupied by usual residents increased 7.1%.

Fort St. John (City) is part of the census agglomeration of Fort St. John (British Columbia).

Population and dwelling counts

Fort St. John (City) – Neighbouring census subdivisions

Table 1 Fort St. John (City) – Neighbouring census subdivisions, population change, 2006 to 2011
Census subdivision (CSD) name	CSD type	Population
Census subdivision (CSD) name	CSD type	2011	2006	% change
Peace River C, B.C.	RDA	6,398	6,350	0.8

British Columbia – Census subdivisions with 5,000-plus population with the highest population growth

Table 2 British Columbia – 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
Langford	CY	29,228	22,459	30.1
Lake Country	DM	11,708	9,606	21.9
Port Moody	CY	32,975	27,512	19.9
Kent	DM	5,664	4,738 E	19.5
Surrey	CY	468,251	394,976	18.6

British Columbia – Census subdivisions with 5,000-plus population with the lowest population growth

Table 3 British Columbia – 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
Kitimat	DM	8,335	8,987	-7.3
Peace River D	RDA	5,479	5,749	-4.7
Esquimalt	DM	16,209	16,840	-3.7
Hope	DM	5,969	6,185	-3.5
Okanagan-Similkameen D	RDA	5,717	5,913	-3.3

Age and sex

Fort St. John, CY – Age distribution

Chart C: Fort St. John, CY - Population by broad age groups

Chart C description: Fort St. John, CY - Population by broad age groups

Table 4 Fort St. John, CY – Age distributions by broad age groups and sex, 2011 Census
Age groups	Both sexes	Males	Females
0 to 14	21.1%	21.0%	21.4%
15 to 64	72.3%	73.7%	70.9%
65 and over	6.5%	5.4%	7.7%

In 2011, the percentage of the population aged 65 and over in Fort St. John, CY was 6.5%, compared with a national percentage of 14.8%. The percentage of the working age population (15 to 64) was 72.3% and the percentage of children aged 0 to 14 was 21.1%. 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.

Fort St. John, CY – Population by broad age groups and sex

Table 5 Fort St. John, CY – 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	18,610	17,400	1,210	7.0
0 to 14	3,935	3,775	160	4.2
15 to 64	13,460	12,550	910	7.3
65 and over	1,210	1,080	130	12.0
Males
Total	9,540	8,975	565	6.3
0 to 14	2,000	1,875	125	6.7
15 to 64	7,030	6,645	385	5.8
65 and over	515	455	60	13.2
Females
Total	9,070	8,425	645	7.7
0 to 14	1,940	1,900	40	2.1
15 to 64	6,430	5,900	530	9.0
65 and over	700	625	75	12.0

Fort St. John, CY – Population by five-year age groups and sex

Chart D description: Fort St. John, CY - Population by five-year age groups and sex

Table 6 Fort St. John, CY – Population by five-year age groups and sex, 2011 Census
Age groups	Both sexes	Males	Females
Total - Age groups	18,610	9,540	9,070
0 to 4 years	1,655	850	810
5 to 9 years	1,175	605	575
10 to 14 years	1,105	540	560
15 to 19 years	1,225	595	625
20 to 24 years	1,720	900	815
25 to 29 years	2,185	1,165	1,020
30 to 34 years	1,755	940	815
35 to 39 years	1,430	755	675
40 to 44 years	1,300	695	610
45 to 49 years	1,255	650	600
50 to 54 years	1,095	560	540
55 to 59 years	880	445	435
60 to 64 years	615	325	290
65 to 69 years	380	185	195
70 to 74 years	265	120	145
75 to 79 years	220	90	130
80 to 84 years	175	60	110
85 years and over	170	55	115
Median age	30.6	30.6	30.7

Fort St. John, CY – Median age¹ of the population

Chart E: Canada, British Columbia and Fort St. John, CY - Median age, 2006 and 2011 censuses

Chart E description: Canada, British Columbia and Fort St. John, CY - Median age, 2006 and 2011 censuses

In 2011, the median age in Fort St. John, CY was 30.6 years. In comparison, the median age of British Columbia was 41.9 years.

Table 7 Canada, British Columbia and Fort St. John, CY – Median age, 2006 and 2011 censuses
	Median age
	2006	2011
Canada	39.5	40.6
British Columbia	40.8	41.9
Fort St. John, CY	29.8	30.6

Families and households

In 2011, the number of census families² in Fort St. John was 4,945, which represents a change of 6.3% from 2006. This compares to a growth rate for Canada of 5.5% over the same period.

In Fort St. John, 60.7% of census families were married couples in 2011, while 23.5% were common-law-couples and 15.9% were lone-parent families.

Chart F: Fort St. John - Census families by family structure

Chart F description: Fort St. John - Census families by family structure

Fort St. John – Family structure

Table 8 Canada, British Columbia, CSD of Fort St. John, CY 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
British Columbia †	1,238,155	887,990	71.7	160,360	13.0	189,805	15.3	6.6
Fort St. John, CY	4,945	3,000	60.7	1,160	23.5	785	15.9	6.3
Peace River C, RDA	1,895	1,440	76.0	315	16.6	140	7.4	-1.0

Fort St. John – Presence of children within couple families

Among couples (married and common-law) in the census subdivision of Fort St. John, 52.5% 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 *	1,680
Married couples without children *	1,315
Common-law-couples with children *	500
Common-law-couples without children *	660

Fort St. John – Marital status

Chart H description: Fort St. John - Marital status

In Fort St. John, 57.7% of the total population aged 15 and over were either married (41.9%) or living with a common-law partner (15.8%).

The remaining 42.3% 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, British Columbia, Fort St. John, CY – Population 15 years and older by marital status, 2011 Census
Marital status	Fort St. John, CY		British Columbia		Canada
Marital status	number	%	number	%	number	%
Total - Population 15 years and over	14,670	100.0	3,722,690	100.0	27,869,345	100.0
Married or living with a common-law partner	8,460	57.7	2,154,575	57.9	16,084,490	57.7
Married (and not separated)	6,145	41.9	1,832,605	49.2	12,941,965	46.4
Living common-law	2,315	15.8	321,965	8.6	3,142,525	11.3
Not married and not living with a common-law partner	6,210	42.3	1,568,120	42.1	11,784,855	42.3
Single (never legally married)	4,365	29.8	1,014,270	27.2	7,816,045	28.0
Separated	485	3.3	102,035	2.7	698,245	2.5
Divorced	850	5.8	246,515	6.6	1,686,035	6.0
Widowed	510	3.5	205,300	5.5	1,584,525	5.7

Fort St. John – Types of private households

There were 7,480 private households³ in Fort St. John in 2011, a change of 8.8% from 2006. Of these, 28.7% of households were comprised of couples with children aged 24 and under at home, a change of -0.5% compared with five years earlier.

Table 10 Canada, British Columbia, Fort St. John, CY – Distribution of households by household type, 2011 Census
Household type⁴	Fort St. John, CY		British Columbia		Canada
Household type⁴	number	%	number	%	number	%
Total private households	7,480	100.0	1,764,635	100.0	13,320,615	100.0
Couple-family households with children aged 24 and under at home⁵	2,145	28.7	431,135	24.4	3,524,915	26.5
Couple-family households without children aged 24 and under at home⁶	1,905	25.5	532,995	30.2	3,935,540	29.5
Lone-parent family households⁷	715	9.6	168,530	9.6	1,375,450	10.3
One-person households	2,060	27.5	498,925	28.3	3,673,310	27.6
Multiple family households⁸	95	1.3	50,410	2.9	268,060	2.0
Other households⁹	570	7.6	82,640	4.7	543,340	4.1

Fort St. John – Structural type of dwelling

In Fort St. John, 54.9% of private households lived in single-detached houses and 1.3% lived in apartments in buildings that have five or more storeys. The rest lived in other types of dwelling structures.

Table 11 Canada, British Columbia, Fort St. John, CY – Distribution of private households by structural type of dwelling, 2011 Census
Structural type of dwelling	Fort St. John, CY		British Columbia		Canada
Structural type of dwelling	number	%	number	%	number	%
Total - Structural type of dwelling	7,480	100.0	1,764,640	100.0	13,320,615	100.0
Single-detached house	4,105	54.9	842,120	47.7	7,329,150	55.0
Semi-detached house	550	7.4	52,825	3.0	646,240	4.9
Row house	795	10.6	130,370	7.4	791,600	5.9
Apartment, building that has five or more storeys	95	1.3	143,970	8.2	1,234,770	9.3
Apartment, building that has fewer than five storeys	1,370	18.3	361,150	20.5	2,397,555	18.0
Apartment, duplex	130	1.7	184,355	10.4	704,485	5.3
Other single-attached house¹⁰	5	0.1	2,885	0.2	33,310	0.3
Movable dwelling¹¹	425	5.7	46,960	2.7	183,510	1.4

Language

Fort St. John, CY – Mother tongue

Chart J description: Fort St. John, CY - 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 Fort St. John, 91.1% of the population reported English only as mother tongue, 1.1% reported French only, and 7.0% reported a non-official language only, in 2011. In comparison, the provincial / territorial percentages were 70.3% for English only, 1.3% for French only and 26.5% for only non-official languages.

In 2011, 96.3% of the population spoke only English most often at home, 0.3% spoke only French and 2.5% spoke only a non-official language. In comparison, the provincial / territorial percentages were 80.5% for only English, 0.4% for only French and 15.4% for only a non-official language.

Table 12 Fort St. John, CY – 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	18,505	100.0	18,505	100.0
English	16,855	91.1	17,815	96.3
French	210	1.1	50	0.3
Non-official language	1,300	7.0	465	2.5
Multiple responses	145	0.8	175	0.9

Table 13 Fort St. John, CY – Mother-tongue retention, 2011 Census
Mother tongue	Mother-tongue retention¹² (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	99.9	99.7	0.2
French	42.9	22.4	20.4
Non-official language	65.7	38.5	27.2

Fort St. John, CY – Non-official languages

In Fort St. John, the three most common mother tongues were German (1.9%), Tagalog (Pilipino, Filipino) (1.0%) and Spanish (0.4%), in 2011. In comparison, the most common mother tongues at the provincial / territorial level were Panjabi (Punjabi) (4.5%), Cantonese (3.2%) and Chinese, n.o.s. (2.9%).

Table 14 Fort St. John, CY – 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	360	25.4	1.9
Tagalog (Pilipino, Filipino)	185	13.0	1.0
Spanish	65	4.6	0.4
Chinese, n.o.s.	60	4.2	0.3
Panjabi (Punjabi)	60	4.2	0.3
Russian	60	4.2	0.3

Fort St. John, CY – Bilingualism

Table 15 Fort St. John, CY – 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	5.1	4.1	90.5	3.1
0 to 19	5.9	5.8	150.0	3.4
20 to 44	5.3	4.5	93.8	4.1
45 to 64	3.8	1.8	88.2	4.1
65 and over	3.1	0.5	83.3	2.9

Table 16 Fort St. John, CY – Knowledge of official languages, 2011 Census
Knowledge of official languages	Number	Percentage
Total	18,510	100.0
English only	17,500	94.5
French only	5	0.0
English and French	955	5.2
Neither English nor French	55	0.3

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

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 1 referrer

Footnote 2

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 2 referrer

Footnote 3

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 3 referrer

Footnote 4

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 4 referrer

Footnote 5

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

Return to footnote 5 referrer

Footnote 6

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 6 referrer

Footnote 7

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

Return to footnote 7 referrer

Footnote 8

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 8 referrer

Footnote 9

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

Return to footnote 9 referrer

Footnote 10

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 10 referrer

Footnote 11

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

Return to footnote 11 referrer

Footnote 12

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 12 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 Fort St. John, City - British Columbia
2011 Census Highlight tables – Census subdivision of Fort St. John, City - British Columbia
2011 Census Data Navigator – Census subdivision of Fort St. John, City - British Columbia
2011 NHS Focus on Geography Series – Census subdivision of Fort St. John, City - British Columbia

Date modified:: 2019-03-27

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Focus on Geography Series, 2011 Census