Focus On Geography Series, 2011 Census - Statistics Canada

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Focus on Geography Series, 2011 Census

Census metropolitan area of Victoria, British Columbia 1

Map of Victoria

Interactive version of map

Population, 2011 and 2006 censuses

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

Prov. rank 2 Nat. rank 15

In 2011, the population of Victoria census metropolitan area (CMA) was 344,615, 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 Victoria, the land area is 696.15 square kilometres with a population density of 495.0 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 153,328 private dwellings occupied by usual residents in Victoria in 2011. The change in private dwellings occupied by usual residents from 2006 was 5.5%. 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 Victoria CMA

Table 1 Victoria CMA – Census subdivisions, population change, 2006 to 2011

Census subdivision (CSD) name	Type	Population
		2011	2006	% change
Saanich	DM	109,752	108,265	1.4
Victoria	CY	80,017	78,057	2.5
Langford	CY	29,228	22,459	30.1
Oak Bay	DM	18,015	17,908	0.6
Esquimalt	DM	16,209	16,840	-3.7
Colwood	CY	16,093	14,687	9.6
Central Saanich	DM	15,936	15,745	1.2
Sooke	DM	11,435	9,699 A	17.9
Sidney	T	11,178	11,315	-1.2
North Saanich	DM	11,089	10,823	2.5
View Royal	T	9,381	8,768	7.0
Metchosin	DM	4,803	4,795	0.2
Capital H (Part 1)	RDA	4,173	4,250	-1.8
Highlands	DM	2,120	1,903	11.4
East Saanich 2	IRI	1,709	1,637	4.4
New Songhees 1A	IRI	1,678	1,643	2.1
South Saanich 1	IRI	818	571	43.3
Becher Bay 1	IRI	324	140	131.4
Cole Bay 3	IRI	322	258	24.8
T'Sou-ke	IRI	219	214 A	2.3
Union Bay 4	IRI	116	111	4.5
Esquimalt ¶	IRI	¶	¶	¶

Census metropolitan areas (CMAs) or census agglomerations (CAs) in British Columbia

Table 2 British Columbia – Metropolitan areas, population rank and population change, 2006 to 2011

CMA or CA name	Type	Population			Rank
		2011	2006	% change	Nat.	Prov.
Vancouver	CMA	2,313,328	2,116,581	9.3	3	1
Victoria †	CMA	344,615	330,088	4.4	15	2
Kelowna	CMA	179,839	162,276	10.8	22	3
Abbotsford - Mission	CMA	170,191	159,020	7.0	23	4
Kamloops	CA	98,754	92,797 A	6.4	37	5
Nanaimo	CA	98,021	92,361	6.1	38	6
Chilliwack	CA	92,308	82,465 A	11.9	42	7
Prince George	CA	84,232	83,225	1.2	46	8
Vernon	CA	58,584	55,418	5.7	56	9
Courtenay	CA	55,213	51,383 A	7.5	58	10
Duncan	CA	43,252	41,387	4.5	68	11
Penticton	CA	42,361	41,303 A	2.6	71	12
Campbell River	CA	36,096	34,707 A	4.0	77	13
Parksville	CA	27,822	26,518	4.9	92	14
Fort St. John	CA	26,380	25,136	4.9	96	15
Port Alberni	CA	25,465	25,343 A	0.5	99	16
Cranbrook	CA	25,037	24,138	3.7	100	17
Quesnel	CA	22,096	21,049 A	5.0	104	18
Williams Lake	CA	18,490	18,760	-1.4	110	19
Salmon Arm	CA	17,683	16,205	9.1	114	20
Squamish	CA	17,479	15,256	14.6	116	21
Powell River	CA	16,689	16,537	0.9	119	22
Terrace	CA	15,569	15,420 A	1.0	124	23
Prince Rupert	CA	13,052	13,392	-2.5	131	24
Dawson Creek	CA	11,583	10,994	5.4	145	25

Age and sex

Victoria – Age distribution

Chart C description: Victoria - Population by broad age groups

Table 3 Victoria – Age distributions by broad age groups and sex, 2011 Census

Age groups	Both sexes	Males	Females
0 to 14	13.1%	13.9%	12.4%
15 to 64	68.5%	69.4%	67.6%
65 and over	18.4%	16.7%	20.0%

In 2011, the percentage of the population aged 65 and over in Victoria was 18.4%, 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 13.1%. 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.

Victoria – Population by broad age groups and sex

Table 4 Victoria – Population by broad age groups and sex, and population change between 2006 and 2011, 2006 to 2011 censuses

Broad age groups by sex	Population
	2011	2006	change	% change
Both sexes
Total	344,615	330,085	14,530	4.4
0 to 14	45,190	46,465	-1,275	-2.7
15 to 64	235,985	224,785	11,200	5.0
65 and over	63,440	58,840	4,600	7.8
Males
Total	165,505	157,285	8,220	5.2
0 to 14	22,990	23,575	-585	-2.5
15 to 64	114,865	108,895	5,970	5.5
65 and over	27,655	24,815	2,840	11.4
Females
Total	179,105	172,800	6,305	3.6
0 to 14	22,200	22,895	-695	-3.0
15 to 64	121,125	115,880	5,245	4.5
65 and over	35,780	34,020	1,760	5.2

Victoria – Population by five-year age groups and sex

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

Table 5 Victoria – Population by five-year age groups and sex, 2011 Census

Age groups	Both sexes	Males	Females
Total - Age groups	344,615	165,505	179,105
0 to 4 years	14,775	7,555	7,215
5 to 9 years	14,655	7,490	7,165
10 to 14 years	15,760	7,945	7,820
15 to 19 years	19,065	9,760	9,305
20 to 24 years	23,470	11,515	11,955
25 to 29 years	23,625	11,840	11,785
30 to 34 years	21,575	10,800	10,775
35 to 39 years	20,430	10,060	10,375
40 to 44 years	22,395	10,995	11,400
45 to 49 years	25,750	12,420	13,330
50 to 54 years	27,370	12,800	14,570
55 to 59 years	26,970	12,625	14,345
60 to 64 years	25,330	12,045	13,280
65 to 69 years	18,030	8,675	9,350
70 to 74 years	12,965	6,100	6,860
75 to 79 years	11,175	5,050	6,125
80 to 84 years	9,575	3,920	5,660
85 to 89 years	7,335	2,680	4,660
90 to 94 years	3,395	1,020	2,380
95 to 99 years	840	180	660
100 years and over	120	20	95
Median age	44.2	42.5	45.7

Victoria – Median age2 of the population

Chart E description: Canada, British Columbia and Victoria - Median age, 2006 and 2011 censuses

The median age in Victoria was 44.2 years. In comparison, the median age of British Columbia was 41.9 years.

Table 6 Canada, British Columbia and Victoria – Median age, 2006 and 2011 censuses

Median age
2006	2011
Canada	39.5	40.6
British Columbia	40.8	41.9
Victoria	43.1	44.2

Families and households

In 2011, the number of census families3 in Victoria was 95,420, which represents a change of 3.8% from 2006. This compares to a growth rate for Canada of 5.5% over the same period.

In Victoria, 68.9% of census families were married couples in 2011, while 15.7% were common-law-couples and 15.3% were lone-parent families.

Chart F description: Victoria - Census families by family structure

Victoria – Family structure

Table 7 Canada, British Columbia, Victoria – 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
		number	%	number	%	number	%
Canada †	9,389,695	6,293,950	67.0	1,567,905	16.7	1,527,840	16.3	5.5
British Columbia †	1,238,155	887,990	71.7	160,360	13.0	189,805	15.3	6.6
Victoria †	95,420	65,770	68.9	15,020	15.7	14,635	15.3	3.8

Victoria – Presence of children within couple families

Married couples		Common-law-couples
with children	without children	with children	without children
26,795 (33.2%)	38,975 (48.2%)	4,240 ( 5.2%)	10,780 (13.3%)

Chart G description: Victoria - Presence of children within couple families

Among couples (married and common-law) in the census metropolitan area of Victoria, 38.4% 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 Victoria, 86.5% were intact families, that is, in which all children were the biological or adopted children of both parents, while 13.5% 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.

Victoria – Marital status

Chart H description: Victoria - Marital status

In Victoria, 55.3% of the total population aged 15 and over were either married (45.2%) or living with a common-law partner (10.1%).

The remaining 44.7% 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, British Columbia, Victoria – Population 15 years and older by marital status, 2011 Census

Marital status	Victoria		British Columbia		Canada
	number	%	number	%	number	%
Total - Population 15 years and over	299,425	100.0	3,722,690	100.0	27,869,345	100.0
Married or living with a common-law partner	165,510	55.3	2,154,575	57.9	16,084,490	57.7
Married (and not separated)	135,350	45.2	1,832,605	49.2	12,941,965	46.4
Living common-law	30,155	10.1	321,965	8.6	3,142,525	11.3
Not married and not living with a common-law partner	133,920	44.7	1,568,120	42.1	11,784,855	42.3
Single (never legally married)	81,600	27.3	1,014,270	27.2	7,816,045	28.0
Separated	8,210	2.7	102,035	2.7	698,245	2.5
Divorced	25,055	8.4	246,515	6.6	1,686,035	6.0
Widowed	19,050	6.4	205,300	5.5	1,584,525	5.7

Victoria – Types of private households

There were 153,330 private households4 in Victoria in 2011, a change of 5.4% from 2006. Of these, 19.5% of households were comprised of couples with children aged 24 and under at home, a change of -3.3% compared with five years earlier.

Table 9 Canada, British Columbia, Victoria – Distribution of households by household type, 2011 Census

Household type5	Victoria		British Columbia		Canada
	number	%	number	%	number	%
Total - Private households	153,330	100.0	1,764,635	100.0	13,320,615	100.0
Couple-family households with children aged 24 and under at home6	29,835	19.5	431,135	24.4	3,524,915	26.5
Couple-family households without children aged 24 and under at home7	47,220	30.8	532,995	30.2	3,935,540	29.5
Lone-parent family households8	13,540	8.8	168,530	9.6	1,375,450	10.3
One-person households	51,405	33.5	498,925	28.3	3,673,310	27.6
Multiple-family households9	2,370	1.5	50,410	2.9	268,060	2.0
Other households10	8,955	5.8	82,640	4.7	543,340	4.1

Victoria – Structural type of dwelling

In Victoria, 41.8% of private households lived in single-detached houses and 5.7% lived in apartments in buildings that have five or more storeys. The rest lived in other types of dwelling structures.

Table 10 Canada, British Columbia, Victoria – Distribution of private households by structural type of dwelling, 2011 Census

Structural type of dwelling	Victoria		British Columbia		Canada
	number	%	number	%	number	%
Total - Structural type of dwelling	153,330	100.0	1,764,640	100.0	13,320,615	100.0
Single-detached house	64,100	41.8	842,120	47.7	7,329,150	55.0
Semi-detached house	5,835	3.8	52,825	3.0	646,240	4.9
Row house	9,550	6.2	130,370	7.4	791,600	5.9
Apartment, building that has five or more storeys	8,710	5.7	143,970	8.2	1,234,770	9.3
Apartment, building that has fewer than five storeys	41,175	26.9	361,150	20.5	2,397,555	18.0
Apartment, duplex	21,325	13.9	184,355	10.4	704,485	5.3
Other single-attached house11	270	0.2	2,885	0.2	33,310	0.3
Movable dwelling12	2,365	1.5	46,960	2.7	183,510	1.4

Language

Victoria – Mother tongue

Chart J description: Victoria - 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 Victoria, 84.8% of the population reported English only as mother tongue, 1.7% reported French only, and 12.3% reported only a non-official language, in 2011. In comparison, the provincial / territorial percentages were 70.3% for English only, 1.3% for French only and 26.5% for only non-official languages.

In 2011, 92.9% of the population spoke only English most often at home, 0.5% spoke only French and 4.9% spoke only a non-official language. In comparison, the provincial / territorial percentages were 80.5% for English only, 0.4% for French only and 15.4% for only a non-official language.

Table 11 Victoria – Mother tongue and language spoken most often at home, 2011 Census

Selected languages	Mother tongue		Language spoken most often at home
	number	%	number	%
Total	339,725	100.0	339,725	100.0
English	288,235	84.8	315,515	92.9
French	5,735	1.7	1,730	0.5
Non-official language	41,670	12.3	16,585	4.9
Multiple responses	4,085	1.2	5,900	1.7

Table 12 Victoria – Mother-tongue retention, 2011 Census

Mother tongue	Mother-tongue retention13 (in percentage)
	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	99.8	99.7	0.2
French	53.6	28.2	25.4
Non-official language	69.2	44.4	24.8

Victoria – Non-official languages

In Victoria, the three most common mother tongues were German (1.4%), Chinese, n.o.s. (1.3%) and Panjabi (Punjabi) (1.2%), in 2011. In comparison, the most common mother tongues at the provincial / territorial level were Panjabi (Punjabi) (4.5%), Cantonese (3.2%) and Chinese, n.o.s. (2.9%).

Table 13 Victoria – 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.
German	4,700	10.5	1.4
Chinese, n.o.s.	4,285	9.6	1.3
Panjabi (Punjabi)	4,085	9.1	1.2
Cantonese	3,100	6.9	0.9
Spanish	2,690	6.0	0.8
Tagalog (Pilipino, Filipino)	2,480	5.5	0.7
Dutch	2,130	4.7	0.6
Mandarin	2,020	4.5	0.6
Portuguese	1,360	3.0	0.4
Korean	1,325	3.0	0.4

Victoria – Bilingualism

Table 14 Victoria – Rate of English-French bilingualism by mother tongue and age groups, 2011 Census

Age groups	Mother tongue
	Total	English	French	Non-official language
Note: Counts for mother tongue include single responses only. Consequently, the total excludes multiple responses.
Total	9.5	8.3	88.9	6.8
0 to 19	11.7	11.3	85.4	8.7
20 to 44	11.0	10.0	92.6	6.3
45 to 64	8.1	6.3	89.8	6.9
65 and over	7.0	5.2	83.3	6.5

Table 15 Victoria – Knowledge of official languages, 2011 Census

Knowledge of official languages	Number	Percentage
Total	339,725	100.0
English only	303,850	89.4
French only	185	0.1
English and French	33,060	9.7
Neither English nor French	2,635	0.8

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

Victoria – This census metropolitan area has the following data quality indicators (commonly referred to as data quality flags):

Excludes census data for one or more incompletely enumerated Indian reserves or Indian settlements.

Return to footnote 1 referrer

Footnote 2

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 2 referrer

Footnote 3

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 3 referrer

Footnote 4

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 4 referrer

Footnote 5

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 5 referrer

Footnote 6

Couple-family households with children: Refers to couple households with at least one child aged 24 and under.

Return to footnote 6 referrer

Footnote 7

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 7 referrer

Footnote 8

Lone-parent-family households: Refers to all lone-parent family households regardless of age of children.

Return to footnote 8 referrer

Footnote 9

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 9 referrer

Footnote 10

Other households: Refers to two or more people who share a private dwelling, but who do not constitute a census family.

Return to footnote 10 referrer

Footnote 11

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 11 referrer

Footnote 12

Movable dwelling includes mobile homes and other movable dwellings such as houseboats and railroad cars.

Return to footnote 12 referrer

Footnote 13

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 13 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 Victoria
  • Age and sex
  • Marital status
  • Families
  • Households/Dwellings
  • Language
• 2011 Census Highlight tables – Census metropolitan area of Victoria
  • Age and sex – Population by broad age groups and sex
  • Families – Couple families by presence of children in private households
  • Language – Population by mother tongue and age groups
• 2011 NHS Focus on Geography Series – Census metropolitan area of Victoria

Date modified: 2019-03-27

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