Recently released data from the 2021 Federal Census has confirmed that the Strait area’s three decade population decline has ended.
Within the counties of Guysborough, Antigonish, Inverness, and Richmond, the total population was recorded at 59,354 in 2021, while in the 2016 census, that number stood at 58,860, an increase of 494 people.
One of the main reasons is the growth in the Town of Antigonish where the population rose from 4,364 in 2016 to 4,656 in 2021. The case was the same in Antigonish County, which had a population in 2021 of 15,473, compared to 14,937 in 2016.
Another source comes from Inverness County which had a population of 14,001 in 2016, and in 2021, it went up to 14,116.
For the most part, there was population growth among Strait area First Nations, with the population in Paqtnkek rising from 353 in 2016 to 372 in 2021. The story was the same in We’koqma’q where the population going up from 831 in 2016 to 877 in 2021. The only outlier was Potlotek where the population went down from 506 in 2016 to 405 in 2021.
The population of the Town of Port Hawkesbury remained virtually unchanged, as in 2016 there were 3,214 people living there, compared to 3,210 in 2021.
Among the factors driving this slight population rise, according to Cape Breton-Canso MP Mike Kelloway, is people from Atlantic Canada returning home, COVID-19 allowing people to work from home, people moving to the region for the quality of life, and the amount of international students and immigrants coming and staying in the Strait area.
The population of the Municipality of the District of Guysborough went down from 4,670 in 2016 to 4,585 in 2021, the District of St. Mary’s dropped from 2,233 in 2016 to 2,161 in 2021, while the number of residents in the Town of Mulgrave decreased from 722 in 2016 to 627 in 2021.
In Richmond County, the 2016 census found there were 8,964 residents, and in 2021 that number was down to 8,914.
While he is encouraged by the trends, the Liberal MP said there are jobs not being filled, and one solution can come from new arrivals. Kelloway said there will be federal announcements in the coming months focused on addressing these and other labour needs.
The 2021 results were much different from the 2016 Federal Census which confirmed another five-year period of large population decline when the population of Inverness, Richmond, Guysborough and Antigonish counties decreased by 4.5 per cent between 2011 and 2016. In those five years, the census confirmed that 1,936 fewer people were recorded as residing in the Strait area.
One of the largest drops was in the Municipality of the District of Guysborough where the population went down by 8.5 per cent between 2011 and 2016. In 2011, the census recorded 4,995 people living in the municipality, but five years later, that dropped to 4,670.
The Town of Mulgrave saw the largest population decline of 9.1 per cent over those same five years. The population in 2011 was at 794, and in 2016 that number was at 722.
The Town of Port Hawkesbury’s population also shrank. In 2011, the census recorded 3,167 people living in the town, but by 2016 that was down to 3,004, for a 5.1 per cent drop.
Richmond County saw a noticeable decrease in population. In 2011, the census showed there were 9,293 people living there, but in 2016, that figure was down to 8,964, for a drop of 3.5 per cent.
The news was mixed in Inverness County. The village of Inverness saw a 2.2 per cent uptick in population. In 2011, there were 1,221 people recorded as living in Inverness, and five years later, that number was 1,248. This is even more positive considering that from 2006 to 2011, the population of the village went down by 5.3 per cent.
The rest of Inverness County witnessed a population drop of four per cent. In 2011, the county’s population stood at 17,947, but by 2016, that number was down to 17,235.
Even Antigonish County saw a 1.5 per cent drop in population. In 2011, there were 19,589 people living in the county, but in 2016, that decreased to 19,301.
The Town of Antigonish also saw a slight decrease. In 2011, the town’s population was 5,049, and in 2016, that number was recorded at 5,002, for a drop of 0.9 per cent.
In the 2011 census, Antigonish town and county were the only municipalities in Nova Scotia, aside from the Halifax Regional Municipality, to see an increase in their populations from 2006. The town’s population went up by 6.8 per cent and the county’s overall population rose by four per cent over those five years.
In the rest of the region, the news was the same from 2006 to 2011 as: Richmond County’s population went down by 4.6 per cent; Inverness County’s population fell by 5.7 per cent; the Town of Port Hawkesbury’s population dropped by 4.3 per cent; the population of the Town of Mulgrave decreased by 9.7 per cent; and Guysborough County’s population declined by 10.1 per cent.
At the very least, it appears that the steady loss of population in every part of the Strait area is now over. Even in the communities where the population went down, that decline is not at the rate it was even five years ago.
At the other end of the spectrum, there have been large increases in some communities in the region, which is very encouraging to the many residents, organizations, governments, and businesses which have been watching the local population dry up since the early 1990s.
Those decades of shuttering industry, massive job losses, disturbing outmigration, and the resulting loss of services, businesses, schools, and other infrastructure now seem to be a thing of the past.
Since these numbers were assembled in 2021 as this area was in the midst of an influx of new and returning residents, and those people might not all be included in this data, it’s possible the census of 2026 could provide even better news, beyond the reversal of population loss, to an even larger uptick in population
For now, the 2021 census numbers offer a sense of relief that the trends are moving in the right direction.