Kentville, Nova Scotia
What Kentville is made of: the communities whose institutions are here, the sectors its 551 businesses sit in, the franchises already on the ground, and the services a newcomer could start.
551 businesses on file · 82 trades · 30 sectors · census population 6,630 · registry population 6,630 · built from geonet.halifax on 2026-10-07
Visiting rather than moving? The free guidebook for Kentville → — the free guidebook for this region: why go, what to see, what is open when it rains.
The local economy
What the business base is made of, what it is specialised in against the national pattern, and what that mix implies. This is the part a development office would read first.
Composition, not health. geonet records what trades exist and where; it does not record formation, closure, employment or revenue, so none of those appear here. What makes this economics rather than a directory is the NAICS coding: it lets the local mix be read against the BLS survival curves and against the 323 industry groups this research has screened.
Every industry group on this page links through to its NAICS page, and to the screened market report where this research has one — that is what the trait-to-NAICS coding buys.
What this city is specialised in
Location quotient is this city's share of a trade divided by the same share across 10 CA metro tables. Above 1.25 is the conventional threshold for a local specialisation.
Thin against the national pattern
Common trades that are under-represented here. For someone deciding what to open, this is the more useful half of the table — though a gap can mean unmet demand or a market that does not work here, and this does not tell you which.
The base against the entry screen
Businesses by the entry signal of the industry group they sit in, from the /markets screen. A large "structure decides" share means most local trades are ones where being better than the incumbent does not by itself win. A trade is matched to the screened record at whatever level the research wrote it — the same code, a broader one, or a narrower one. Where a group holds several screened sub-markets the count is shown, because no single one of them speaks for the whole group.
How to read the survival figure
Each sector's five-year establishment survival rate, weighted by how many of this city's businesses sit in that sector. It is a property of the MIX, not of these businesses — it says what survival this composition would imply at US private-sector rates, because no Canadian equivalent series exists.
Weighted over 93.4% of the coded base — public administration carries no curve. Source: Business Employment Dynamics — Table 7, Survival of private sector establishments by opening year, US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
And what it does not measure
A "mixed" trait is one that genuinely spans codes — "computers" covers systems design, repair and supply. The clear share is how much of this reading rests on unambiguous coding. Business density also reflects how completely the directory covers a place, not only how many businesses are in it — so it compares poorly between a city the register knows well and one it does not.
Who lives here, and who the city is for
The census: the only figures on this page that count people rather than businesses, and the three cohort readings they make possible.
The register says what trades exist. The census says who lives here — and it is the only thing on this page that counts people. Figures are Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population for Kentville, Town (T), the municipality proper, and every comparison is against the population-weighted average of all 5,161 census subdivisions in Canada.
Who the city is for
Three readings, each built from real numbers against real benchmarks. This is not an index. Every signal is shown with its own value, its benchmark and which way it points, and the band simply counts how many point the same way — so a reader who disagrees with one signal can drop it and still use the rest.
Seniors
strongIs this a place to grow old, and is the care here?
| Residents 65 and over | 24.7% | ▲19% |
| Residents 85 and overthe group that needs care rather than the group that is merely retired | 4.5% | ▲2.3% |
| Median age | 45.6 years | –42.1 years |
| Low income among 65+against a 15% reference, not a national figure | 18% | ▼15% |
| Medical clinics per 1,000 residentsfrom the business register | 0.6 | – |
| Pharmacies per 1,000 residentsfrom the business register | 0.9 | – |
| Nursing and elderly care operatorscounted in the register, which lists few of them | 0 | – |
| Median rent | 900 $/mo | ▲1175 $/mo |
A high share of over-65s says other people made this choice; it does not by itself say the care exists. The register lists clinics and pharmacies but has no category for a hospital at all, so the one thing a family would most want — distance to an emergency department — is still missing.
Students and young adults
moderateIs there a reason to be here between 19 and 25, and can they afford it?
| Residents 20 to 24 | 6.4% | –6% |
| Residents 15 to 19the cohort arriving next | 5.7% | –6% |
| Renter householdsa rental market is what makes a place possible to move to | 44.8% | ▲33.2% |
| Median rent | 900 $/mo | ▲1175 $/mo |
| Unemployment rateMay 2021, mid-pandemic — high everywhere in this census | 9.4% | –10.4% |
| Degree holders in the adult populationagainst a 32% reference | 28% | ▼32% |
| Drinking places and recreationfrom the register | 10 | – |
Post-secondary institutions in the city are listed further down this page; where there are none, a high 20-to-24 share usually means work rather than study.
Newcomers and other-language speakers
thinIs there already a community here, and has anyone built anything for it?
| Immigrants in the population | 5% | ▼23.2% |
| Arrived 2016 to 2021a recent arrival means the route here is current, not historical | 0.8% | ▼3.7% |
| Speak a non-official language at home | 2.5% | ▼12.7% |
| Languages spoken at home above the reporting floor | 0 | – |
| Community institutions in the register | 0 | – |
| Non-permanent residentsstudents and work-permit holders | 3.1% | ▼3.7% |
The census counts speakers; the business register shows whether a community has built anything — a church, a society, a credit union, a grocer. Both columns appear in the language table below, and the interesting rows are the ones where they disagree.
What is spoken at home, and whether anyone built for it
Where the census and the business register disagree. A language spoken by hundreds with no institution behind it is a gap in local provision — or a gap in the register. An institution with no matching language usually means an older community that has shifted to English at home.
No non-official language reaches the reporting floor here. In a place this size the census suppresses small counts, so this means "none large enough to publish", not "none".
The rest of the profile
| Characteristic | Here | Canada |
|---|---|---|
| Residents 65 and over | 24.7% | 19% |
| Residents 85 and over | 4.5% | 2.3% |
| Residents 20 to 24 | 6.4% | 6% |
| Arrived 2016 to 2021 | 0.8% | 3.7% |
| Non-permanent residents | 3.1% | — |
| Speak a non-official language at home | 2.5% | 12.7% |
| Renter households | 44.8% | 33.2% |
| Spending 30% or more on shelter | 22.3% | 20.6% |
| Participation rate | 59.3% | 63.7% |
| Unemployment rate | 9.4% | 10.4% |
| Median household income, 2020 | 68500 $ | — |
| Median after-tax household income, 2020 | 60000 $ | — |
| Prevalence of low income (LIM-AT) | 14.5% | — |
| Bachelor degree or higher | 28% | — |
The one thing to keep in mind
Census day was 11 May 2021, so income is for 2020 and the labour figures were taken during the pandemic — Toronto's 13.9% unemployment rate is a May 2021 reading, not a current one. Census 2021 count for the census subdivision, which is the municipality proper. It will differ from the figure in wander.regions, which is sometimes a metropolitan population.
Source: Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population — 98-401-X2021005 — Canada, provinces, territories, census divisions and census subdivisions, Statistics Canada, under the Open Government Licence – Canada. National comparison: Population-weighted across all 5,161 census subdivisions in the 2021 Census Profile. Median rent and median age are weighted means of local medians, which is an approximation, not a national median.
The communities the register shows
A community appears in the business register before it appears in prose — a national church, a society, a credit union, a newspaper. Those are counted as institutions, and they are what suggests residents. A restaurant serving a cuisine is counted separately as trade, because every city has those and they say nothing about who lives nearby. The ranking is by institutions.
| Community | Institutions | Worship | Trade | Where it shows |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dutch | — | — | 2 | trade on Harrington Rd (2)
|
| Brazilian | — | — | 1 |
What the city is made of
Every business on file, grouped by the sector it trades in. This is the economic-development view: where the 551 businesses actually are, and the specific trades inside each sector.
| Sector | Businesses | Share | What is in it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business | 57 | 10.3% | government (24) · association (23) · consulting (4) · accounting (4) |
| Health | 52 | 9.4% | physician (31) · fitness club (4) · medical clinic (4) · pharmacy (4) · chiro (2) · optical (2) · health foods (1) |
| Finance | 34 | 6.2% | insurance (11) · bank (6) |
| Automotive | 34 | 6.2% | autos (14) · auto repair (13) · motorcycle (2) · auto parts (1) · tires (1) |
| Living | 33 | 6% | place of worship (20) · apartment (4) · furniture (3) · veterinary (1) · camping (1) · fire safety (1) · daycare (1) · swimming pools (1) |
| Construction | 29 | 5.3% | general contractor (5) · carpet (5) · plumbing (4) · painting (3) · roofing (3) · electrician (2) · excavating (2) · concrete (2) |
| Beauty | 25 | 4.5% | hair stylist (15) · dentist (7) · barber (3) |
| Retail | 19 | 3.4% | gifts (8) · convenience (6) · antiques (2) · department store (1) · jeweler (1) · flowers (1) |
| Dining | 16 | 2.9% | restaurant (10) · pizza (4) · pubs (1) · diner (1) |
| Food & Beverage | 16 | 2.9% | fruit (3) · vegetable (1) |
| Travel | 15 | 2.7% | bnb (5) · travel agent (4) · motel (2) |
| Education | 11 | 2% | school (6) · garden (2) · library (2) · writing (1) |
| Living & Home | 11 | 2% | |
| Realty | 8 | 1.5% | real estate (8) |
| Food | 8 | 1.5% | grocer (5) · baker (2) · ice cream (1) |
| Manufacturing | 7 | 1.3% | fabrication (5) · industrial supplier (2) |
| Media | 7 | 1.3% | signs (5) · advertising (2) |
| Construction & Realty | 7 | 1.3% | |
| Athletic Sports | 7 | 1.3% | |
| Logistics | 6 | 1.1% | truck transportation (3) · storage (2) |
The franchises already here
Brands from a register of 2,024 franchise systems, matched into this city by name. A high count is a signal in both directions: the territory works, and it may be taken.
12 of these brands are a single common word — Metro, Avenue, Budget — so their counts include businesses that merely share the word. They are marked rather than dropped.
| Brand | Category | Here | Worldwide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salvation Army | retail | 3 | — |
| Royal Bank | bank | 2 | — |
| Apple Auto Glass | specialty | 1 | 110 |
| Canada Post locations | post | 1 | 23,000 |
| Curves For Women | fitness | 1 | 10,000 |
| Greco Pizza | pizza | 1 | 160 |
| H&R Block | tax | 1 | 12,165 |
| Jani-King | cleaner | 1 | 115 |
| Minute Muffler | auto | 1 | — |
| Purolator Courier | post | 1 | 550 |
| Royal Canadian Legion | club | 1 | 160 |
| Superior Propane | fuel | 1 | — |
| Tim Hortons | coffee | 1 | 2,890 |
| CIBC name only | bank | 3 | — |
| Limited name only | retail | 3 | — |
| Hallmark name only | greetingcards | 1 | 5,600 |
| Honda name only | car | 1 | — |
| Jeep name only | suv | 1 | — |
| Nissan name only | auto | 1 | — |
| Progressive name only | supermarket | 1 | 150 |
| Roots name only | retail | 1 | 145 |
| Roxy name only | retail | 1 | — |
| ScotiaBank name only | bank | 1 | — |
| Toyota name only | car | 1 | — |
| Volkswagen name only | — | 1 | — |
Real estate as a local trade
Four unrelated jobs share the name: selling existing homes, owning and letting them, managing them for someone else, and building new ones. For anyone weighing a move or a licence these are the counts — and the ownership question goes to /property, which answers it building by building.
Real estate is a local job market in its own right, and four unrelated trades get the same name. Counts are businesses filed under each trade in the register, which lists a brokerage once however many agents work there — so this measures firms, not licensees.
Selling homes
5312Offices of agents and brokers — the resale market, and the biggest single trade in most Canadian cities.
Named in the register
- Banner Real Estate — 325 Main St
- Bishop Brenda — 14 Cornwallis St
- Carmquin Property Appraisals — 171 Murphy Lake Dr
- Century 21 Annapolis Valley — 32 Cornwallis St
- East Coast Appraisals Real EstateLtd — 42 Highland Avenue
- Giffin Group — 21 Webster St
- Pillar To Post — 27 Spring Garden Rd
- Traditions Realty Better Homes Gardens — 14 Cornwallis Street
Owning and letting
5311Lessors of real estate: the buildings themselves, filed under the building rather than the owner.
Named in the register
- Cornwallis Developments — 325 Main Street
- Evelyn Court Apartments — 57 Academy Street
- Kent Fields Estates — 454 Main Street
- MacKay Real Estate — 382 Main
Building new homes
2361Residential builders and the general contractors who work for them.
Named in the register
- Annic Enterprises — North Alton Comp 8 Site 2
- LaFarge Canada — 9 River Street
- Mr Seamless — Rr 3 Stn Main
- Timberstone Log Homes — 1505 Harrington Rd
- Top Line Ventures — 289 Topline Blvd
- Welton Construction — 7026 Hwy 12
Who actually owns it
The full property record →From the /property research for this city, which asks a different question: not who trades in property here, but who owns it. An owner is named there only where a document says so. Values and every sale price open and reusable; owners only by subscription.
Landowners
- Government of Canada — Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada — 128.2299 ha, 19 buildings, 15,388.60 sq m
- Parsons Green Developments — 207 units on four accounts, $38,421,200 assessed
Homebuilders
- Parsons Green Developments — 207 units in four buildings, $38,421,200 assessed
- Owner of 325 Main Street — 81 units, $6,800,000 (March 2022)
- Owner of 125 Webster Street — 65 units (2007), assessed $6,836,700
- Owner of 49 Hibou Court — 40 units (2025), assessed $6,066,000
- Owner of 190 Oakdene Avenue — 41 units (1981), assessed $4,251,800
Commercial landlords
- Government of Canada — 129.2887 ha owned across three parcels, 15,388.60 sq m of floor area in 20 buildings
- Owner of 30 Chipman Drive — 149,632 sq ft, built 1996
- Owner of 650 and 655 Park Street — 186,976 sq ft and a $7,152,200 neighbour
- Plaza Retail REIT — 27 Nova Scotia properties, 1,219,981 sq ft — the nearest two in New Minas
- Crombie REIT — no Kentville property; County Fair Mall at 9256 Commercial St, New Minas
- Killam Apartment REIT — no Kentville property; 2,850 manufactured-home sites in 18 Nova Scotia communities
8 marquee buildings examined, 2 with an owner established.
On "how many doors"
How many doors a landlord holds is not in any of this. The register files an apartment building under the building, not its owner, and carries no unit count; there is no open dataset of Canadian landlords by portfolio. Where this research has established ownership it is in the /property record for the city, building by building, which is a different and much slower exercise.
Work where you go to them
The Ultimate 411 half of local: everything where the customer does not have to come to you.
A shop needs the customer to walk in. These 157 services do the opposite — the mobile mechanic, the mobile groomer, the bookkeeper, the junk haul — and they are the ones a person can start without a lease. 0 of them already match a trait filed in this city's register.
The 157 Service=1 rows in search.local: work where the provider travels to the customer. "present" counts businesses already filed under that exact trait name; a blank is a coverage gap, not proof of absence, because the two vocabularies were built separately.
home services
events
pets
luxury
healthcare
sporting goods
sports
business
outdoors
construction
travel
tools
Schools and colleges
wander.schools is a post-secondary table — universities and colleges. K-12 public and private schools are not in it, and only 7 of its 1,686 rows carry coordinates, so these are listed and not mapped.
In the business register
Where schooling shows up as a business rather than an institution — which is where K-12, tutoring and childcare appear.
Health and care
What a person moving a parent here would ask first. The register files clinics and pharmacies; it has no category for a hospital at all, so hospitals are matched by name and the limit is stated rather than hidden.
Matched on the name "hospital"
- Valley Regional Hospital Fndtn — 150 Exhibition St
geonet carries no 'hospital' trait, so these are matched on the business name. A distance-to-hospital figure needs a source that states hospital locations.
Mayor & politics
Who holds office here and who is asking to, from the official lists on /politics: the council, the riding’s Member of Parliament and the provincial member. Each name opens its row there.
Realtors in Kentville — the brokerages and licensed agents to call →
What this record cannot tell you
Named in full, because the gaps are the part most likely to be misread as an answer.
- Census figures are 2021, taken on 11 May 2021: income is for 2020 and the labour figures were measured mid-pandemic, so the unemployment rate on this page is a 2021 reading rather than a current one.
- wander.schools is now readable, but it holds universities and colleges only and 1,679 of its 1,686 rows have no coordinates. K-12 public and private schools need a separate source — in Ontario the Ministry of Education school finder, in British Columbia the provincial school list. wander.citytowns, hotels and territories remain denied to the ru user.
- No 'hospital' trait exists in geonet; distance to a hospital needs an external source such as StatCan's Open Database of Healthcare Facilities.
- 4.9% of businesses here carry no coordinates, so a map or address lookup would miss them. Postal codes reach 95.6%.
Built from
geonet.halifax— the local business registerwander.regions— city name, population, metrosearch.local— trait vocabulary and the come-to-you servicessearch.cozfranchises— 2,024 franchise brands