On April 27, Statistics Canada dropped more information from the 2021 census, this time about population demographic – so what does that mean for the Coast?
The latest numbers include information about age, gender and dwelling type. (Please note some numbers provided by Statistics Canada may appear contradictory, such as adding up genders or age to the total population, and are not meant to be exact numbers.)
Who’s home?
The provincial and national average household size (how many people live in each residence) is 2.4 people. On the Coast it’s lower than that in every community but one: Area E (Elphinstone).
As far as the average age of a community goes, every community on the lower Coast was older than the national and provincial average ages of 41.9 and 43.1 respectively.
The profile of the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) offers perhaps the best overview of the lower Coast, as it includes all of the rural electoral areas, members of shíshálh Nation and the two municipalities. Of the 32,170 people living in the SCRD in 2021, the majority were members of the 15 to 64-year-old segment of the population at 54.9 per cent (17,660 people). Children ages zero to 14 represented 11.8 per cent (3,810 people), the 65-plus group was second place with 33.2 per cent (10,695 people), and included the 85 and up residents made up 3.3 per cent (1,050) of the regional district’s population. The average age in the SCRD that year was 50.4 (the median age was 56), but the four-year age group with the most people were those 3,415 residents aged 65 to 69 years.
Most of the SCRD’s 14,935 private households were occupied by two people (6,350 households) or one person (4,960 households), and 600 were movable dwellings. The average household size was 2.1 -- below the national and provincial averages of 2.4.
Community counts
In the District of Sechelt, 10,847 people were counted in the 2021 census. Among them, the largest age group was 15 to 64 years old (5,580 people or 51.4 per cent). In that group, 1,000 of them were 60 to 64 years old. There were 1,290 children living in Sechelt last year (11.9 per cent). Seniors 65 and older made up 36.6 per cent (or 3,975 people), including 485 people aged 85 years or older (4.5 per cent). Five Sechelt residents – all women – were 100 years or older.
The average age of a Sechelt resident last year was 51.6 years, while the median was 57.6 years. Among the 5,130 occupied private households (including 255 moveable dwellings), the average number of people per household was 2.1.
The Town of Gibsons is still shy of 5,000 people, as only 4,758 residents were included in the latest census. A little more than 10 per cent of the Gibsons population were children (510 kids aged 14 or younger, or 10.7 per cent). Those aged 15 to 64 years old made up the majority of the age demographics at 2,605 people (54.7 per cent). Around 1,640 people were 65-plus (34.5 per cent), including 225 people 85 or older (4.7 per cent). The average age of the population was 51.2 years, and the median age was 56. Of the 2,285 occupied private households (including 15 movable dwellings), an average of two people lived in each household.
The Sechelt Indian Government District (SIGD) population on the lower Coast grew from 676 in 2016 to 744 in 2021, a 10.1 per cent population growth. In 2021, there were 120 children ages zero to 14 (16.1 per cent), 450 people ages 15 to 65 (60.4 per cent), and 170 people 65-plus years old (22.8 per cent), including the 10 people 85 and older (1.3 per cent). The average age of the population was 45, while the median age was 48.8. There is almost an even split between men and women: 375 men and 370 women. Of the 325 occupied private households, 45 were moveable dwellings, and there was an average household size of 2.3 people.
Area A’s (Pender Harbour area) 3,039 people included 230 children up to 14 years old (7.6 per cent), with the majority of people 15 to 64 years old at 1,585 people (or 52.1 per cent). Residents 65 years and older came up second with 1,220 people (40.1 per cent), including the 75 people who were 85 or older (2.5 per cent). The average age was 55.3, while the median age was 61.2 years. Last year, Area A was home to more men than women, with 1,595 male residents and 1,445 female residents. The average household size at the time of the census was 1.9 people. Of the 1,565 occupied private households, 110 were moveable dwellings.
Area B (Halfmoon Bay) was made up of 2,969 people in 2021. At the time, there were 360 children younger than 15 (12.1 per cent), as more than half of Halfmoon Bay residents were 15 to 64 years old (1,670 people or 56.2 per cent), followed by 940 people 65-plus (31.6 per cent), which included 50 people 85 or older (1.7 per cent). The average age was 50.1 years, and the median was 56.4 years. The average household size of Halfmoon Bay’s 1,370 occupied private dwellings was 2.2 people. There were 30 movable dwellings, according to the census.
Last year, 3,523 people called Roberts Creek (Area D) home, and most were women. Most Creekers – 2,030 – were in the 15 to 64 age category (57.7 per cent), followed by 995 people 65-plus range (28.3 per cent), which also included 55 people 85-plus (1.6 per cent). Children up to 14 years old represented 14.1 per cent (495 people). The average age was 47.3, while the median age was 51.2 years. In the 1,550 private households, the average number of residents was 2.3 people. In 2021, the census counted 60 movable dwellings in Roberts Creek.
Everyone in Elphinstone (Area E) added up to 3,883 people in 2021. Of that population, 59.5 per cent were 15 to 64 years old (2,310 people), followed by the 1,005 people 65 years and older (14.6 per cent).The 65-plus category includes 90 people who are 85 years or older (2.3 per cent of the Elphinstone population). Children made up 565 of the area’s people or 14.6 per cent of the community. The average age was 46.8 years, while the median age was 50.8. Of the 1,605 occupied private households (including 35 movable dwellings), there was an average of 2.4 people.
In West Howe Sound (Area F), most of the 2,407 residents who replied to the census were between the ages of 15 and 64, representing 59.5 per cent of their population (1,430 people). The second biggest cohort among them were the 65-plus group of 735 people (30.6 percent) which includes 45 people 85-plus (1.9 per cent). Approximately 245 children made up 10.2 per cent of that community. The average age was 50 years and the median age was 55.6. In the 1,110 occupied private dwellings (including 45 moveable dwellings), an average household included 2.1 people.
Home to 10 centenarians
Across Canada, there were 9,540 people 100 years or older in 2021, and women made up the majority of that population – 7,705 compared to 1,825 men.
The oldest age group saw a 16 per cent increase from 2016, and now represent 0.03 per cent of the Canadian population.
On the lower Sunshine Coast, there were at least 10 centenarians in the SCRD, which is one-fifth of the 50 centenarians living in the West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country riding. All 10 of the local 100-plus cohort are women.
Societal impacts
“As more seniors are living to 85 and beyond, an increasing number of individuals will face limitations and long-term health challenges. This will put increasing pressure on all levels of government to ensure adequate support, in areas such as housing, health care and home care, as well as transportation, among other things,” Statistics Canada’s portrait of the country’s growing population of people aged 85-plus years states.
The baby boomer generation is largely retiring from the workforce, leaving millennials – people born between 1981 and 1996 – as the fastest-growing population in the country due to immigration. This census also reports the first time baby boomers make up less than a quarter of the Canadian population, but they continue to be the largest generation in the country with 9,212,640 members as of the 2021 count.
“The fact that baby boomers are reaching more advanced ages is gradually putting more pressure on the health and home care system, as well as on pension plans, although many people in this generation are currently choosing to stay in the workforce longer,” the generational report said.
More statistics can be found at statcan.gc.ca, where the next publishing deadline for more data from the 2021 census will be available on July 13.
