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Focus on Geography Series, 2011 Census

Census metropolitan area of Halifax, Nova Scotia

Map of Halifax

Interactive version of map

Population, 2011 and 2006 censuses

Chart A description: Halifax, CMA - Population, 2011 and 2006 censuses

Prov. rank

Nat. rank

In 2011, the population of Halifax census metropolitan area (CMA) was 390,328, representing a percentage change of 4.7% from 2006. This compares to the national growth of 5.9% and to the average growth among all CMAs of 7.4%.

In Halifax, the land area is 5,495.71 square kilometres with a population density of 71.0 persons per square kilometre. This compares to the national land area of 8,965,121.42 square kilometres with a population density of 3.7 persons per square kilometre. The land area of all CMAs is 92,648.98 square kilometres with 249.58 persons per square kilometre.

In total, there were 165,153 private dwellings occupied by usual residents in Halifax in 2011. The change in private dwellings occupied by usual residents from 2006 was 6.5%. For Canada as a whole, the number of private dwellings occupied by usual residents increased 7.1%.

Population and dwelling counts

Census subdivisions in the Halifax CMA

Table 1 Halifax CMA – Census subdivisions, population change, 2006 to 2011
Census subdivision (CSD) name	Type	Population
Census subdivision (CSD) name	Type	2011	2006	% change
Halifax	RGM	390,096	372,679	4.7
Cole Harbour 30	IRI	194	128	51.6
Beaver Lake 17	IRI	23	21	9.5
Sheet Harbour 36	IRI	15	30	-50.0
Shubenacadie 13	IRI	0	0	···

Census metropolitan areas (CMAs) or census agglomerations (CAs) in Nova Scotia

Table 2 Nova Scotia – Metropolitan areas, population rank and population change, 2006 to 2011
CMA or CA name	Type	Population			Rank
CMA or CA name	Type	2011	2006	% change	Nat.	Prov.
Halifax	CMA	390,328	372,858	4.7	13	1
Cape Breton	CA	101,619	105,928	-4.1	36	2
Truro	CA	45,888	45,077	1.8	67	3
New Glasgow	CA	35,809	36,288	-1.3	78	4
Kentville	CA	26,359	25,969	1.5	97	5

Age and sex

Halifax – Age distribution

Chart C: Halifax - Population by broad age groups

Chart C description: Halifax - Population by broad age groups

Table 3 Halifax – Age distributions by broad age groups and sex, 2011 Census
Age groups	Both sexes	Males	Females
0 to 14	15.3%	16.2%	14.4%
15 to 64	71.6%	72.0%	71.2%
65 and over	13.1%	11.8%	14.3%

In 2011, the percentage of the population aged 65 and over in Halifax was 13.1%, compared with a national percentage of 14.8%. The percentage of the working age population (15 to 64) was 71.6% and the percentage of children aged 0 to 14 was 15.3%. 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.

Halifax – Population by broad age groups and sex

Table 4 Halifax – Population by broad age groups and 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	390,325	372,860	17,465	4.7
0 to 14	59,620	60,210	-590	-1.0
15 to 64	279,605	267,680	11,925	4.5
65 and over	51,105	44,975	6,130	13.6
Males
Total	188,700	178,895	9,805	5.5
0 to 14	30,565	30,505	60	0.2
15 to 64	135,950	129,400	6,550	5.1
65 and over	22,185	18,990	3,195	16.8
Females
Total	201,630	193,960	7,670	4.0
0 to 14	29,055	29,705	-650	-2.2
15 to 64	143,655	138,285	5,370	3.9
65 and over	28,925	25,980	2,945	11.3

Halifax – Population by five-year age groups and sex

Chart D description: Halifax - Population by five-year age groups and sex

Table 5 Halifax – Population by five-year age groups and sex, 2011 Census
Age groups	Both sexes	Males	Females
Total - Age groups	390,325	188,700	201,630
0 to 4 years	19,970	10,260	9,705
5 to 9 years	19,160	9,780	9,380
10 to 14 years	20,490	10,520	9,970
15 to 19 years	23,885	12,050	11,835
20 to 24 years	31,245	15,640	15,605
25 to 29 years	28,410	13,990	14,420
30 to 34 years	25,930	12,490	13,445
35 to 39 years	26,500	12,750	13,750
40 to 44 years	27,830	13,265	14,565
45 to 49 years	33,120	16,185	16,935
50 to 54 years	31,565	15,270	16,295
55 to 59 years	27,195	12,875	14,315
60 to 64 years	23,920	11,435	12,480
65 to 69 years	16,815	8,040	8,780
70 to 74 years	11,860	5,485	6,380
75 to 79 years	9,140	4,060	5,080
80 to 84 years	6,630	2,625	4,010
85 to 89 years	4,235	1,370	2,865
90 to 94 years	1,895	505	1,385
95 to 99 years	470	90	375
100 years and over	55	5	50
Median age	39.9	38.8	40.9

Halifax – Median age¹ of the population

Chart E: Canada, Nova Scotia and Halifax - Median age, 2006 and 2011 censuses

Chart E description: Canada, Nova Scotia and Halifax - Median age, 2006 and 2011 censuses

The median age in Halifax was 39.9 years. In comparison, the median age of Nova Scotia was 43.7 years.

Table 6 Canada, Nova Scotia and Halifax – Median age, 2006 and 2011 censuses
	Median age
	2006	2011
Canada	39.5	40.6
Nova Scotia	41.8	43.7
Halifax	39.0	39.9

Families and households

In 2011, the number of census families² in Halifax was 109,765, which represents a change of 4.3% from 2006. This compares to a growth rate for Canada of 5.5% over the same period.

In Halifax, 67.8% of census families were married couples in 2011, while 15.4% were common-law-couples and 16.7% were lone-parent families.

Chart F: Halifax - Census families by family structure

Chart F description: Halifax - Census families by family structure

Halifax – Family structure

Table 7 Canada, Nova Scotia, Halifax – 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
Halifax	109,765	74,470	67.8	16,930	15.4	18,365	16.7	4.3

Halifax – Presence of children within couple families

Married couples		Common-law-couples
with children	without children	with children	without children
34,950 (38.2%)	39,520 (43.2%)	5,355 ( 5.9%)	11,575 (12.7%)

Chart G description: Halifax - Presence of children within couple families

Among couples (married and common-law) in the census metropolitan area of Halifax, 44.1% 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.

Among couples with children aged 24 and under at home in the census metropolitan area of Halifax, 87.4% were intact families, that is, in which all children were the biological or adopted children of both parents, while 12.6% were stepfamilies, in which there was at least one child was the biological or adopted child of only one married spouse or common-law partner. For Canada as a whole in 2011, 12.6% of couples with children aged 24 and under were stepfamilies.

Halifax – Marital status

Chart H description: Halifax - Marital status

In Halifax, 56.2% of the total population aged 15 and over were either married (45.9%) or living with a common-law partner (10.3%).

The remaining 43.8% 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 8 Canada, Nova Scotia, Halifax – Population 15 years and older by marital status, 2011 Census
Marital status	Halifax		Nova Scotia		Canada
Marital status	number	%	number	%	number	%
Total - Population 15 years and over	330,715	100.0	783,510	100.0	27,869,345	100.0
Married or living with a common-law partner	185,745	56.2	453,095	57.8	16,084,490	57.7
Married (and not separated)	151,835	45.9	376,020	48.0	12,941,965	46.4
Living common-law	33,910	10.3	77,075	9.8	3,142,525	11.3
Not married and not living with a common-law partner	144,965	43.8	330,420	42.2	11,784,855	42.3
Single (never legally married)	99,260	30.0	209,180	26.7	7,816,045	28.0
Separated	9,370	2.8	23,545	3.0	698,245	2.5
Divorced	19,500	5.9	46,060	5.9	1,686,035	6.0
Widowed	16,835	5.1	51,625	6.6	1,584,525	5.7

Halifax – Types of private households

There were 165,155 private households³ in Halifax in 2011, a change of 6.5% from 2006. Of these, 23.8% of households were comprised of couples with children aged 24 and under at home, a change of -2.4% compared with five years earlier.

Table 9 Canada, Nova Scotia, Halifax – Distribution of households by household type, 2011 Census
Household type⁴	Halifax		Nova Scotia		Canada
Household type⁴	number	%	number	%	number	%
Total - Private households	165,155	100.0	390,280	100.0	13,320,615	100.0
Couple-family households with children aged 24 and under at home⁵	39,295	23.8	88,450	22.7	3,524,915	26.5
Couple-family households without children aged 24 and under at home⁶	49,125	29.7	128,065	32.8	3,935,540	29.5
Lone-parent family households⁷	16,810	10.2	42,445	10.9	1,375,450	10.3
One-person households	47,185	28.6	108,795	27.9	3,673,310	27.6
Multiple-family households⁸	2,240	1.4	5,495	1.4	268,060	2.0
Other households⁹	10,490	6.4	17,030	4.4	543,340	4.1

Halifax – Structural type of dwelling

In Halifax, 51.0% of private households lived in single-detached houses and 10.7% lived in apartments in buildings that have five or more storeys. The rest lived in other types of dwelling structures.

Table 10 Canada, Nova Scotia, Halifax – Distribution of private households by structural type of dwelling, 2011 Census
Structural type of dwelling	Halifax		Nova Scotia		Canada
Structural type of dwelling	number	%	number	%	number	%
Total - Structural type of dwelling	165,155	100.0	390,280	100.0	13,320,615	100.0
Single-detached house	84,290	51.0	260,435	66.7	7,329,150	55.0
Semi-detached house	11,290	6.8	19,450	5.0	646,240	4.9
Row house	6,160	3.7	9,175	2.4	791,600	5.9
Apartment, building that has five or more storeys	17,605	10.7	17,880	4.6	1,234,770	9.3
Apartment, building that has fewer than five storeys	35,415	21.4	56,485	14.5	2,397,555	18.0
Apartment, duplex	6,205	3.8	11,970	3.1	704,485	5.3
Other single-attached house¹⁰	260	0.2	705	0.2	33,310	0.3
Movable dwelling¹¹	3,915	2.4	14,175	3.6	183,510	1.4

Language

Halifax – Mother tongue

Chart J description: Halifax - 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 Halifax, 90.2% of the population reported English only as mother tongue, 2.6% reported French only, and 6.2% reported only a non-official language, 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, 94.6% of the population spoke only English most often at home, 0.9% spoke only French and 3.2% spoke only a non-official language. In comparison, the provincial / territorial percentages were 97.3% for English only, 0.0% for French only and 0.9% for only a non-official language.

Table 11 Halifax – 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	386,440	100.0	386,440	100.0
English	348,740	90.2	365,535	94.6
French	10,160	2.6	3,660	0.9
Non-official language	23,865	6.2	12,305	3.2
Multiple responses	3,675	1.0	4,945	1.3

Table 12 Halifax – 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	60.4	33.6	26.8
Non-official language	80.9	57.4	23.5

Halifax – Non-official languages

In Halifax, the three most common mother tongues were Arabic (1.5%), Chinese, n.o.s. (0.6%) and German (0.4%), 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 13 Halifax – 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.
Arabic	5,835	22.4	1.5
Chinese, n.o.s.	2,265	8.7	0.6
German	1,365	5.2	0.4
Spanish	1,210	4.6	0.3
Persian (Farsi)	1,170	4.5	0.3
Tagalog (Pilipino, Filipino)	1,070	4.1	0.3
Mandarin	835	3.2	0.2
Russian	730	2.8	0.2
Greek	725	2.8	0.2
Korean	700	2.7	0.2

Halifax – Bilingualism

Table 14 Halifax – 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	11.7	9.6	89.8	10.0
0 to 19	15.1	14.1	82.8	11.2
20 to 44	14.7	12.8	94.4	9.2
45 to 64	8.0	5.1	91.3	10.9
65 and over	6.2	3.1	82.3	9.4

Table 15 Halifax – Knowledge of official languages, 2011 Census
Knowledge of official languages	Number	Percentage
Total	386,440	100.0
English only	338,470	87.6
French only	380	0.1
English and French	46,405	12.0
Neither English nor French	1,190	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 metropolitan area of Halifax
2011 Census Highlight tables – Census metropolitan area of Halifax
2011 NHS Focus on Geography Series – Census metropolitan area of Halifax

Date modified:: 2019-03-27

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Focus on Geography Series, 2011 Census