Nova Scotia Census Population by Age Group, 1991-2011

Nova Scotia's Community Counts program provides archived population data by selected age groups for multiple census years. This dataset, sourced from Statistics Canada's Census of Population, covers various geographic levels within the province, from communities to electoral districts. The data is retained for archival purposes and has not been maintained or updated since its release.

Use Cases

• Analyzing population aging trends using 'Percent Change 1991 - 2001' and 'Percent Change 2001 - 2011' columns.
• Comparing age distribution across municipalities or health authorities using the 'GeogName' and year-specific percentage columns (e.g., '2011 - %').
• Calculating absolute population figures for specific age cohorts by combining percentage columns with total population data from external sources.
• Tracking demographic shifts over two decades for regional planning using the time-series columns from 1991, 1996, 2001, 2006, and 2011.

Strengths

• Covers a 20-year time range across five Canadian census years (1991, 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011).
• Provides data for multiple geographic hierarchies within Nova Scotia, including 15 types such as communities, health boards, and electoral districts.
• Is available on multiple government data platforms (Socrata, Open Canada), indicating official provenance and broad accessibility.

Limitations

• The dataset is explicitly archived and not maintained; the most recent data point is from the 2011 census.
• Metadata conflicts exist: one Socrata entry lists a license (OGL-CA-2.0) and a 2026 update date, while another lists none, creating uncertainty about current status.
• Key metadata like row count and file size are unknown, and the most complete column list suggests the data may require external context (e.g., total population) for full analysis.

Provenance

Source

Statistics Canada's Census of Population, disseminated via the Government of Nova Scotia's Community Counts program.

Collection Method

National census enumeration.

Time Range

1991 to 2011

Freshness

2026-04-17 15:27:19.452651 (Socrata & Open Canada), though this is a future date likely indicating a scripted update for an archived dataset; the actual data is from 2011 or earlier.

Geography

Nova Scotia, Canada, at multiple geographic levels (provinces, counties, communities, municipalities, district health authorities, etc.).