Newfoundland and Labrador - Demography

Demography

Main article: Demographics of Newfoundland and Labrador See also: List of communities in Newfoundland and Labrador

Newfoundland and Labrador has a population of 514,536, more than half of which lives on the Avalon Peninsula. In recent years the population of the province has started to increase for the first time since the early 1990s. In the 2006 census the population of the province decreased by 1.5% and stood at 505,469. However by the 2011 census the population had risen by 1.8%.

largest municipalities by population

Municipality	2006	2011
St. John's	100,646	106,172
Conception Bay South	21,966	24,848
Mount Pearl	24,671	24,284
Corner Brook	20,083	19,886
Paradise	12,584	17,695
Grand Falls-Windsor	13,558	13,725
Gander	9,951	11,054
Happy Valley – Goose Bay	7,572	7,552
Torbay	6,281	7,397
Labrador City	7,240	7,367
Table source: Statistics Canada

Population of Newfoundland and Labrador since 1951

Year	Population	Five Year % change	Ten Year % change	Rank Among Provinces
1951	361,416	n/a	n/a	9
1956	415,074	14.8	n/a	9
1961	457,853	10.3	26.7	9
1966	493,396	7.8	18.9	9
1971	522,100	5.8	14.0	9
1976	557,720	6.8	13.0	9
1981	567,681	1.8	8.7	9
1986	568,350	0.1	1.9	9
1991	568,475	0.02	0.1	9
1996	551,790	-2.9	-2.9	9
2001	512,930	-7.0	-9.8	9
2006	505,469	-1.5	-8.4	9
2011	514,536	+1.8	+0.3	9

Source: Statistics Canada

Rank	Language	Respondents	Percentage
1.	English	488,405	97.7
2.	French	1,885	0.4
3.	Innu-aimun	1,585	0.3
4.	Chinese	1,080	0.2
5.	Spanish	670	0.1
6.	German	655	0.1
7.	Inuktitut	595	0.1
8.	Urdu	550	0.1
9.	Arabic	540	0.1
10.	Dutch	300	0.1
11.	Russian	225	< 0
12.	Italian	195	< 0

The largest single religious denomination by number of adherents according to the 2001 census was the Roman Catholic Church, at 36.9% of the province's population (187,405 members). The major Protestant denominations make up 59.7% of the population, with the largest group being the Anglican Church of Canada at 26.1% of the total population (132,680 members), the United Church of Canada at 17.0% (86,420 members), and the Salvation Army at 7.9% (39,955 members), with other Protestant denominations in much smaller numbers. The Pentecostal churches made up 6.7% of the population with 33,840 members. Non-Christians made up only 2.7% of the total population, with the majority of those respondents indicating "no religion" (2.5% of the total population).

According to the 2001 Canadian census, the largest ethnic group in Newfoundland and Labrador is English (39.4%), followed by Irish (19.7%), Scottish (6.0%), French (5.5%), and First Nations (3.2%). While half of all respondents also identified their ethnicity as "Canadian," 38% report their ethnicity as "Newfoundlander" in a 2003 Statistics Canada Ethnic Diversity Survey.