Population Changes in Nova Scotia - 2016 to 2021

3 May 2022

By nickfarnell

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The 2021 census has been released and that means it is time to dive right into some population trends. The Atlantic provinces in general have seen a substantial amount of growth from 2016 to 2021 and this post will go into more detail about Nova Scotia.

Halifax has seen the largest increase in population both as a percentage and in absolute terms. Of the 18 Census Divisions in Nova Scotia, 12 have increased in population while only 6 have decreased.

Region	Population 2016	Population 2021	Population Difference	Population Difference %
Halifax	403,390	440,072	36,682	9.09
Hants	42,558	45,140	2,582	6.07
Victoria	7,089	7,441	352	4.97
Antigonish	19,301	20,129	828	4.29
Kings	60,600	62,914	2,314	3.82
Annapolis	20,591	21,252	661	3.21
Lunenburg	47,126	48,599	1,473	3.13
Yarmouth	24,419	24,947	528	2.16
Cumberland	30,005	30,538	533	1.78
Colchester	50,585	51,476	891	1.76
Queens	10,351	10,501	150	1.45
Inverness	17,235	17,346	111	0.64
Pictou	43,748	43,657	-91	-0.21
Cape Breton	98,722	98,318	-404	-0.41
Richmond	8,964	8,914	-50	-0.56
Digby	17,323	17,062	-261	-1.51
Shelburne	13,966	13,704	-262	-1.88
Guysborough	7,625	7,373	-252	-3.30

Which areas have seen high growth?

The census division with the highest population growth was Halifax. Census divisions are quite large, Halifax being no exception. Moving deeper into which parts of this census division saw the most growth, the top three areas were located in and around the city of Halifax.

Bedford

To the north-west of Halifax, Bedford has seen a population growth of 5,828 from 7,185 in 2016 to 13,013 in 2021.

North-West Halifax / Bedford South

The area within Halifax that has seen the second highest population growth is North-West Halifax / Bedford South. This area has seen a growth of 3,017 residents from 7,362 in 2016 to 10,379 in 2021. New “dissemination areas” have also been added.

Halifax Waterfront

The area with the third highest increase in population is on the waterfront near Halifax Citadel. This relatively small area has seen growth of 2,425 residents from 2,778 in 2016 to 5,203 in 2021, an increase of more than 87%.