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Focus on Geography Series, 2011 Census

Census metropolitan area of Saint John, New Brunswick

Map of Saint John

Interactive version of map

Population, 2011 and 2006 censuses

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

Prov. rank

Nat. rank

In 2011, the population of Saint John census metropolitan area (CMA) was 127,761, representing a percentage change of 4.4% from 2006. This compares to the national growth of 5.9% and to the average growth among all CMAs of 7.4%.

In Saint John, the land area is 3,362.95 square kilometres with a population density of 38.0 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 52,281 private dwellings occupied by usual residents in Saint John 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 Saint John CMA

Table 1 Saint John CMA – Census subdivisions, population change, 2006 to 2011
Census subdivision (CSD) name	Type	Population
Census subdivision (CSD) name	Type	2011	2006	% change
Saint John	CY	70,063	68,043	3.0
Quispamsis	TV	17,886	15,239	17.4
Rothesay	TV	11,947	11,637	2.7
Grand Bay-Westfield	TV	5,117	4,981	2.7
Hampton	T	4,292	4,004	7.2
Simonds	P	3,828	3,759	1.8
Kingston	P	2,952	2,888	2.2
Hampton	P	2,734	2,724	0.4
Westfield	P	2,108	2,053	2.7
Upham	P	1,306	1,267	3.1
Musquash	P	1,200	1,235	-2.8
Saint Martins	P	1,145	1,198	-4.4
Greenwich	P	1,047	1,043	0.4
Lepreau	P	752	824	-8.7
Petersville	P	723	758	-4.6
Rothesay	P	347	350	-0.9
St. Martins	VL	314	386	-18.7

Census metropolitan areas (CMAs) or census agglomerations (CAs) in New Brunswick

Table 2 New Brunswick – 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.
Moncton	CMA	138,644	126,424	9.7	29	1
Saint John	CMA	127,761	122,389	4.4	31	2
Fredericton	CA	94,268	86,226 A	9.3	39	3
Bathurst	CA	33,484	34,106 A	-1.8	82	4
Miramichi	CA	28,115	28,773 A	-2.3	90	5
Edmundston	CA	21,903	22,471 A	-2.5	105	6
Campbellton	CA	17,842	17,878 A	-0.2	113	···
Campbellton (New Brunswick part / partie du Nouveau-Brunswick)		14,520	14,816 A	-2.0	···	7
Campbellton (partie du Québec / Quebec part)		3,322	3,062	8.5	···	30

Age and sex

Saint John – Age distribution

Chart C: Saint John - Population by broad age groups

Chart C description: Saint John - Population by broad age groups

Table 3 Saint John – Age distributions by broad age groups and sex, 2011 Census
Age groups	Both sexes	Males	Females
0 to 14	16.4%	17.4%	15.5%
15 to 64	68.5%	69.0%	67.9%
65 and over	15.1%	13.6%	16.6%

In 2011, the percentage of the population aged 65 and over in Saint John was 15.1%, compared with a national percentage of 14.8%. The percentage of the working age population (15 to 64) was 68.5% and the percentage of children aged 0 to 14 was 16.4%. 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.

Saint John – Population by broad age groups and sex

Table 4 Saint John – 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	127,765	122,390	5,375	4.4
0 to 14	20,955	21,300	-345	-1.6
15 to 64	87,485	84,025	3,460	4.1
65 and over	19,325	17,065	2,260	13.2
Males
Total	61,485	58,660	2,825	4.8
0 to 14	10,675	11,025	-350	-3.2
15 to 64	42,455	40,550	1,905	4.7
65 and over	8,345	7,085	1,260	17.8
Females
Total	66,280	63,730	2,550	4.0
0 to 14	10,280	10,275	5	0.0
15 to 64	45,030	43,480	1,550	3.6
65 and over	10,975	9,980	995	10.0

Saint John – Population by five-year age groups and sex

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

Table 5 Saint John – Population by five-year age groups and sex, 2011 Census
Age groups	Both sexes	Males	Females
Total - Age groups	127,765	61,485	66,280
0 to 4 years	6,740	3,460	3,280
5 to 9 years	6,775	3,400	3,370
10 to 14 years	7,440	3,815	3,625
15 to 19 years	8,565	4,475	4,090
20 to 24 years	7,950	4,075	3,875
25 to 29 years	7,190	3,435	3,755
30 to 34 years	7,550	3,525	4,030
35 to 39 years	8,365	3,980	4,385
40 to 44 years	8,620	4,070	4,550
45 to 49 years	10,625	5,125	5,505
50 to 54 years	10,590	5,030	5,555
55 to 59 years	9,565	4,675	4,890
60 to 64 years	8,460	4,070	4,385
65 to 69 years	6,135	2,970	3,165
70 to 74 years	4,380	2,125	2,255
75 to 79 years	3,410	1,450	1,960
80 to 84 years	2,695	1,015	1,685
85 to 89 years	1,660	545	1,110
90 to 94 years	815	205	605
95 to 99 years	200	35	165
100 years and over	30	5	25
Median age	41.9	40.7	43.0

Saint John – Median age¹ of the population

Chart E: Canada, New Brunswick and Saint John - Median age, 2006 and 2011 censuses

Chart E description: Canada, New Brunswick and Saint John - Median age, 2006 and 2011 censuses

The median age in Saint John was 41.9 years. In comparison, the median age of New Brunswick was 43.7 years.

Table 6 Canada, New Brunswick and Saint John – Median age, 2006 and 2011 censuses
	Median age
	2006	2011
Canada	39.5	40.6
New Brunswick	41.5	43.7
Saint John	40.5	41.9

Families and households

In 2011, the number of census families² in Saint John was 37,340, which represents a change of 5.0% from 2006. This compares to a growth rate for Canada of 5.5% over the same period.

In Saint John, 68.8% of census families were married couples in 2011, while 12.5% were common-law-couples and 18.7% were lone-parent families.

Chart F: Saint John - Census families by family structure

Chart F description: Saint John - Census families by family structure

Saint John – Family structure

Table 7 Canada, New Brunswick, Saint John – 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
New Brunswick	224,590	152,455	67.9	35,945	16.0	36,190	16.1	3.1
Saint John	37,340	25,695	68.8	4,680	12.5	6,965	18.7	5.0

Saint John – Presence of children within couple families

Married couples		Common-law-couples
with children	without children	with children	without children
11,575 (38.1%)	14,125 (46.5%)	1,855 ( 6.1%)	2,825 ( 9.3%)

Chart G description: Saint John - Presence of children within couple families

Among couples (married and common-law) in the census metropolitan area of Saint John, 44.2% 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 Saint John, 84.7% were intact families, that is, in which all children were the biological or adopted children of both parents, while 15.4% 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.

Saint John – Marital status

Chart H description: Saint John - Marital status

In Saint John, 57.8% of the total population aged 15 and over were either married (49.0%) or living with a common-law partner (8.8%).

The remaining 42.2% 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, New Brunswick, Saint John – Population 15 years and older by marital status, 2011 Census
Marital status	Saint John		New Brunswick		Canada
Marital status	number	%	number	%	number	%
Total - Population 15 years and over	106,805	100.0	637,595	100.0	27,869,345	100.0
Married or living with a common-law partner	61,690	57.8	382,310	60.0	16,084,490	57.7
Married (and not separated)	52,310	49.0	310,310	48.7	12,941,965	46.4
Living common-law	9,375	8.8	72,000	11.3	3,142,525	11.3
Not married and not living with a common-law partner	45,120	42.2	255,285	40.0	11,784,855	42.3
Single (never legally married)	28,435	26.6	159,760	25.1	7,816,045	28.0
Separated	3,525	3.3	21,035	3.3	698,245	2.5
Divorced	6,340	5.9	32,930	5.2	1,686,035	6.0
Widowed	6,815	6.4	41,565	6.5	1,584,525	5.7

Saint John – Types of private households

There were 52,280 private households³ in Saint John in 2011, a change of 6.4% from 2006. Of these, 25.0% of households were comprised of couples with children aged 24 and under at home, a change of -1.6% compared with five years earlier.

Table 9 Canada, New Brunswick, Saint John – Distribution of households by household type, 2011 Census
Household type⁴	Saint John		New Brunswick		Canada
Household type⁴	number	%	number	%	number	%
Total - Private households	52,280	100.0	314,010	100.0	13,320,615	100.0
Couple-family households with children aged 24 and under at home⁵	13,090	25.0	74,710	23.8	3,524,915	26.5
Couple-family households without children aged 24 and under at home⁶	16,265	31.1	108,040	34.4	3,935,540	29.5
Lone-parent family households⁷	6,355	12.2	32,940	10.5	1,375,450	10.3
One-person households	13,705	26.2	81,705	26.0	3,673,310	27.6
Multiple-family households⁸	810	1.5	4,415	1.4	268,060	2.0
Other households⁹	2,060	3.9	12,200	3.9	543,340	4.1

Saint John – Structural type of dwelling

In Saint John, 59.6% of private households lived in single-detached houses and 3.5% lived in apartments in buildings that have five or more storeys. The rest lived in other types of dwelling structures.

Table 10 Canada, New Brunswick, Saint John – Distribution of private households by structural type of dwelling, 2011 Census
Structural type of dwelling	Saint John		New Brunswick		Canada
Structural type of dwelling	number	%	number	%	number	%
Total - Structural type of dwelling	52,280	100.0	314,005	100.0	13,320,615	100.0
Single-detached house	31,155	59.6	220,175	70.1	7,329,150	55.0
Semi-detached house	1,165	2.2	10,815	3.4	646,240	4.9
Row house	2,235	4.3	7,830	2.5	791,600	5.9
Apartment, building that has five or more storeys	1,845	3.5	3,990	1.3	1,234,770	9.3
Apartment, building that has fewer than five storeys	10,075	19.3	42,040	13.4	2,397,555	18.0
Apartment, duplex	4,020	7.7	14,110	4.5	704,485	5.3
Other single-attached house¹⁰	155	0.3	1,050	0.3	33,310	0.3
Movable dwelling¹¹	1,635	3.1	14,000	4.5	183,510	1.4

Language

Saint John – Mother tongue

Chart J description: Saint John - 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 Saint John, 91.9% of the population reported English only as mother tongue, 4.4% reported French only, and 3.1% reported only a non-official language, in 2011. In comparison, the provincial / territorial percentages were 64.9% for English only, 31.6% for French only and 2.5% for only non-official languages.

In 2011, 95.9% of the population spoke only English most often at home, 1.6% spoke only French and 1.8% spoke only a non-official language. In comparison, the provincial / territorial percentages were 69.2% for English only, 28.4% for French only and 1.3% for only a non-official language.

Table 11 Saint John – 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	126,280	100.0	126,280	100.0
English	116,040	91.9	121,075	95.9
French	5,515	4.4	2,035	1.6
Non-official language	3,865	3.1	2,260	1.8
Multiple responses	860	0.7	900	0.7

Table 12 Saint John – 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	99.8	0.1
French	60.0	36.7	23.3
Non-official language	81.3	61.4	19.9

Saint John – Non-official languages

In Saint John, the three most common mother tongues were Korean (0.5%), Chinese, n.o.s. (0.4%) and Arabic (0.3%), in 2011. In comparison, the most common mother tongues at the provincial / territorial level were Mi'kmaq (0.3%), German (0.3%) and Korean (0.3%).

Table 13 Saint John – 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.
Korean	610	14.7	0.5
Chinese, n.o.s.	445	10.7	0.4
Arabic	415	10.0	0.3
Spanish	335	8.1	0.3
German	225	5.4	0.2
Tagalog (Pilipino, Filipino)	170	4.1	0.1
Dutch	160	3.9	0.1
Persian (Farsi)	140	3.4	0.1
Mandarin	125	3.0	0.1
Italian	115	2.8	0.1

Saint John – Bilingualism

Table 14 Saint John – 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	14.5	11.2	88.6	9.2
0 to 19	20.3	19.2	84.7	13.0
20 to 44	18.3	15.7	94.6	7.6
45 to 64	9.0	4.2	88.0	9.0
65 and over	8.7	2.7	83.6	9.3

Table 15 Saint John – Knowledge of official languages, 2011 Census
Knowledge of official languages	Number	Percentage
Total	126,280	100.0
English only	107,145	84.8
French only	160	0.1
English and French	18,695	14.8
Neither English nor French	280	0.2

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 Saint John
2011 Census Highlight tables – Census metropolitan area of Saint John
2011 NHS Focus on Geography Series – Census metropolitan area of Saint John

Date modified:: 2019-03-27

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Focus on Geography Series, 2011 Census