People

Although Halifax’s population grew by 2.1% in 2020, an additional 9,015 residents, this marked the first time in 5 consecutive years that the city failed to break its record for population growth. However, the recorded growth was still the second-largest annual increase on record, in both absolute and percentage terms. This increase brings the population of Halifax to 448,544 as of July 1, 2020.

Halifax continued to attract young, talented, and diverse newcomers not only from within the country, but from around the world. Of these newcomers, 5,751 (64%) were international migrants, while 1,584 (18%) came from interprovincial migration. Both figures were the second-largest Halifax has ever seen, after 2019.

In 2020, Halifax also had the second-highest population growth rate across Canada’s 35 census metropolitan areas (CMAs). However, the dependency ratio¹is still rising. The increase in those either too young or too old to work is higher than the increase in those of working age. The age groups 0 – 14 years and 65+ years grew by 3.1%, while those ages 15 – 64 years grew by only 1.6%.

For yet another year, international immigration was by far the largest component of Halifax’s population growth with 64% of net new residents (5,751 people) coming from outside Canada. Although this figure was lower than 2019, it was still the second-highest immigrant inflow to Halifax.

Looking within Canada, 18% of population growth (1,584 people) came from other provinces and 10% (876 people) came from elsewhere in Nova Scotia, while net natural growth²contributed only 9% (804 people). The net interprovincial figure for 2020 was the second highest on record; conversely, the 2020 intraprovincial figure was the lowest since 2005. The natural growth of the population saw an increase of 22.4% over the record low set in 2019.

Halifax’s labour force also continued to grow: 81% of the people who moved here in 2020 were of working age (15 - 64 years). Of this group, 67% were net new immigrants, 20% came from other Canadian provinces, and 13% were from elsewhere in Nova Scotia. Additionally, there were 1,539 new residents among those ages 0 - 14 years and 65+ years.

Enrolment at Halifax’s universities increased in 2020, growing by 1.1% or 340 students. Total enrolment for the six universities³was 30,825 in 2019-20.

Both enrolment numbers for international students (+671) as well as students from other provinces (+26) increased. In fact, international student enrolment reached its highest-ever level with 7,588 students, a growth of 9.7%. This is the twelfth consecutive record high for international student enrolment in Halifax. In contrast, the enrolment number for students from within the province fell by 357 in 2019-20.

At the Nova Scotia Community College’s three Halifax campuses, total enrolment declined in 2020 by 551 students, a drop of 12%. The NSCC saw its international student enrolment drop by 5% across the province. However, the international student share of total NSCC enrolment actually increased from 7.3% to 7.5%. This means that a larger share of those enrolled were international students.

Enrolment in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields⁴has been increasing consistently for the last 10 years. In 2019-20, STEM enrolment grew by 3.1%, reaching a total of 14,872 students. Looking across all fields of study, the largest undergraduate enrolment was in subjects related to the sciences and mathematics. Additionally, for graduate studies, enrolment in these subjects was second only to enrolment in commerce and administration.

Student performance in our elementary and high schools provides a long-term preview of labour supply in Halifax: is the next generation of Nova Scotians developing the competencies they will need to succeed in our workforce?

According to the Program of Learning Assessment for Nova Scotia (PLANS),⁵in 2019-20, Grade 6 students in the Halifax Regional Centre for Education (HRCE) system performed on par to previous years in reading and mathematics. For writing, results varied across the four dimensions: ideas, organization, language use, and conventions. The share of students performing at or above expectations rose by 4 percentage points from the previous year for language use and was unchanged for the other three dimensions.

The gap in performance between the general population of students and those in historically marginalized groups mostly improved. The share of Grade 6 students with Indigenous ancestry performing at or above expectation increased between 3 and 8 percentage points in every area. Similar improvement was seen among students of African descent with the exception of reading and writing conventions where performance fell by 3 percentage points from 2018-19.

Looking at provincial-level student assessment data for 15-year-olds, Nova Scotia was in the middle of the pack in comparison to other provinces. The province ranked fifth in reading, mathematics, and science according to the OECD’s Program for International Student Assessment (PISA)⁶ 2018 report. The average scores of Nova Scotia students in all 3 assessment categories (reading, mathematics, and science) fell from 2015 to 2018, with the largest drop in science.