Edmundston - Demographics

Demographics

Population trend

Census	Population	Change (%)
2011	16,032	3.7%
2006	16,643	4.2%
2001	17,373	2.8%
1996Adj	17,876	38.3%
1996	11,033	1.8%
1991	10,835	N/A

Mother tongue language (2006)

Language	Population	Pct (%)
French only	15,215	93.46%
English only	750	4.61%
Other languages	215	1.32%
Both English and French	100	0.61%

Religious make-up (2001)

Religion	Population	Pct (%)
Catholic	16,045	95.11%
Protestant	290	1.72%
Muslim	145	0.86%
Christian n.i.e.	35	0.21%
No religious affiliation	360	2.13%

Historical populations
Year	Pop.	±%
1871	400	—
1911	1,821	+355.3%
1921	4,035	+121.6%
1931	6,430	+59.4%
1941	7,028	+9.3%
1951	10,753	+53.0%
1961	12,791	+19.0%
1971	12,365	−3.3%
1981	12,044	−2.6%
1991	10,835	−10.0%
1996	11,033	+1.8%
2001	17,373	+57.5%
2006	16,643	−4.2%
2011	16,032	−3.7%
In 1998, Saint-Basile, Saint-Jacques, and Verret were annexed by the City of Edmundston.

Edmundston had a population of 16,643 people in 2006, which was a decrease of 4.2% from the 2001 census count (the first post-merger). The median household income in 2005 for Edmundston was $42,551, which is below the New Brunswick provincial average of $45,194.

The city is 95 per cent francophone, the highest percentage of all cities in the province. Edmundston has the third-highest percentage of francophone speakers in North America outside of Quebec and Haiti, behind Clarence-Rockland, Ontario, which has a population exceeding 20,000 and is 68 per cent francophone, and Dieppe, which has a population of 18,565 (2006 Census) and is roughly 80 percent francophone. There are higher numbers of francophones in other Canadian cities outside the Province of Quebec such as Ottawa (122,665), Sudbury (45,420), Toronto (34,900), Winnipeg (26,855), Moncton (20,425), Timmins (17,390) and Edmonton (15,715), but francophones are a minority group in those cities. Unlike most other francophones living in the Maritimes, most people living in the Edmundston area do not consider themselves Acadians other than for statistical purposes. Most of them descend from French-Canadians who originally came from Lower Canada (now Quebec) along with a few Irish immigrants to settle the area in the century between 1820 and 1920, and absorbed the small group of Acadians who had arrived earlier. Nor do they consider themselves Québécois despite their heritage, mainly due to the politicization of Quebec-specific issues they do not feel concerned with. The local accent (colloquially called "l'accent brayon") is quite unique.