Nova Scotia (Latin for New Scotland; ; ; ) is a Canadian province located on the country's southeastern coast. It is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada, and its capital, Halifax, is a major economic centre of the region. Geographically, Nova Scotia is the second smallest province in Canada, with an area of . As of April 2024, it has a population of 1,072,545 people.
The Halifax population centre is the largest urban area in Nova Scotia. Statistics Canada recognizes a total of 37 population centres in the province.
Nova Scotia has four regional municipalities.
Nova Scotia has 25 towns.
Note: the percentages do not necessarily add up to 100% as multiple responses are allowed. Ethnic origins with less than 2% of the responses are not listed.
The question on knowledge of languages allows for multiple responses. The following figures are from the 2021 Canadian Census and the 2016 Canadian Census, and lists languages that were selected by at least 0.5 per cent of respondents.
The 2021 Canadian census showed a population of 969,383.<br />Of the 941,105 singular responses to the census question concerning mother tongue the most commonly reported languages were:
The 2021 census reported that immigrants (individuals born outside Canada) comprise 71,570 persons or 7.5 percent of the total population of Nova Scotia.<br /> <div style="overflow-x:auto; border: 1px solid #AAA; padding-left: 0.1em; padding-right: 0.1em">
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The 2021 Canadian census counted a total of 21,385 people who immigrated to Nova Scotia between 2016 and 2021.<br />
From 1971 to 2011, Nova Scotia had a persistent negative trend in net interprovincial migration. Combined with a declining birth rate, this posed a significant demographic challenge for the province, as its population was projected to decline. The destination for Nova Scotia migrants was most often Ontario, until the turn of the 21st century when Alberta became a more popular destination; New Brunswick ranks as a distant third.
Source: Statistics Canada
As of February 2019, the unemployment rate for the province is 6.4 percent. Halifax Regional Municipality 4.9 percent