Demographics of Alberta

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Alberta has enjoyed a relatively high rate of growth in recent years, due in large part to its burgeoning economy. Between 2003 and 2004, the province saw high birthrates (on par with some larger provinces such as British Columbia), relatively high immigration, and a high rate of interprovincial migration when compared to other provinces.^[1] Approximately 81% of the population live in urban areas and only about 19% live in rural areas. The Calgary-Edmonton Corridor is the most urbanized area in the province and is one of the most densely populated areas of Canada.^[2] Many of Alberta's cities and towns have also experienced very high rates of growth in recent history. Over the past century, Alberta's population rose from 73,022 in 1901 to 2,974,807 in 2001^[3], and has since risen to 3,290,350 according to the 2006 census^[4]

Contents 1 Population history 2 Population geography 3 Ethnicity 4 Languages 5 Migration 5.1 Immigration 5.2 Internal migration 6 Religion 7 See also 8 References

[edit] Population history

Year	Population	Five Year  % change	Ten Year  % change	Percentage of Canadian Pop.	Rank Among Provinces
1901	73,022	n/a	n/a	1.4	9
1911	374,295	n/a	412.6	5.2	7
1921	588,454	n/a	57.2	6.7	5
1931	731,605	n/a	24.3	7.0	4
1941	796,169	n/a	8.8	6.9	5
1951	939,501	n/a	18.0	6.7	4
1956	1,123,116	19.5	n/a	n/a	4
1961	1,331,944	18.6	41.8	7.3	4
1966	1,463,203	9.9	30.3	n/a	4
1971	1,627,874	11.3	22.2	7.5	4
1976	1,838,035	12.9	25.6	n/a	4
1981	2,237,724	21.7	37.5	9.2	4
1986	2,365,825	5.7	28.7	9.3	4
1991	2,545,553	7.6	13.8	9.3	4
1996	2,696,826	5.9	14.0	9.3	4
2001	2,974,807	10.3	16.9	9.9	4
2006	3,290,350	10.6	25.2	10.4	4

Source: Statistics Canada 2001 Census^[3], 2006 Census^[5]

[edit] Population geography

		2006	2001	1996	1991
Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations with over 50,000 inhabitants
1.	Calgary CMA Included in Alberta Division No. 6, which had a 2006 population of 1,160,936.	1,079,310	951,494 (951,395)	821,628	754,033
2.	Edmonton CMA Mostly included in Alberta Division No. 11, which had a 2006 population of 1,076,103.	1,034,945	937,845	862,597	841,132
3.	Lethbridge CA	95,196	87,388 (67,374)	63,053	60,974
4.	Red Deer CA	82,772	67,829 (67,707)	60,080 (60,075 )	58,145
5.	Grande Prairie CA	71,868	58,787 (36,983)	31,353 (31,140)	28,271
6.	Medicine Hat CA	68,822	61,735	56,570	52,681
7.	Wood Buffalo CA	52,643	42,581 (42,602)	36,124	37,407
Census subdivisions with over 12,500 inhabitants
1.	City of Calgary	988,193	879,003 (878,866)	768,082
2.	City of Edmonton	730,372	666,104	616,306
3.	City of Red Deer	82,772	67,829 (67,707)	60,080
4.	Specialized municipality of Strathcona County (included in Edmonton CMA)	82,511	71,986	64,176
5.	City of Lethbridge	74,637	67,374	63,053
6.	City of St. Albert (included in Edmonton CMA)	57,719	53,081	46,888
7.	City of Medicine Hat	56,997	51,249	46,783
8.	Regional municipality of Wood Buffalo	51,496	41,445 (41,466)	35,213
9.	City of Grande Prairie	47,076	36,983	31,353
10.	Municipal district of Rocky View No. 44 (included in Calgary CMA)	34,171	29,925 (30,688)	23,326
11.	County (municipality) of Parkland County (included in Edmonton CMA)	29,265	27,217 (27,252)	25,222
12.	City of Airdrie (included in Calgary CMA)	28,927	20,407 (20,382)	15,946
13.	Municipal district of Foot Hills No. 31	19,736	16,602 (16,764)	14,331
14.	City of Spruce Grove (included in Edmonton CMA)	19,496	15,983	14,271
15.	County (municipality) of Red Deer County	19,108	18,492 (18,639)	17,115
16.	Municipal district of Sturgeon County (included in Edmonton CMA)	18,621	18,067	15,945
17.	County (municipality) of Grande Prairie County No. 1 (included in Grand Prairie CA)	17,970	15,638	13,537
18.	Town of Okotoks	17,145	11,689 (11,664)	8,528
19.	City of Leduc (included in Edmonton CMA)	16,967	15,032	14,346
20.	City of Lloydminster (not including the part in Saskatchewan)	15,910	13,148	11,317
21.	City of Camrose	15,620	14,870 (14,854)	13,728
22.	City of Fort Saskatchewan (included in Edmonton CMA)	14,957	13,121	12,408
23.	Town of Cochrane (included in Calgary CMA)	13,780	12,041 (11,798)	7,424
24.	County (municipality) of Leduc County (included in Edmonton CMA)	12,730	12,528	12,292
Urban areas with over 6,250 inhabitants
1.	Calgary	988,079	879,252
2.	Edmonton	862,544	782,183
3.	Red Deer	82,772	67,829
4.	Lethbridge	74,822	67,532
5.	Medicine Hat	62,183	55,724
6.	Fort McMurray Located within the Regional municipality of Wood Buffalo	47,705	38,667
7.	Grande Prairie	46,850	36,735
8.	Airdrie	28,892	20,382
9.	Lloydminster	24,028	20,988
10.	Spruce Grove	20,169	17,290
11.	Okotoks	17,145	11,689
12.	Leduc	16,967	15,032
13.	Camrose	15,620	14,870
14.	Cochrane	13,486	11,798
15.	Brooks	12,569	11,818
16.	Grand Centre Located within the City of Cold Lake	11,855	11,327
17.	Wetaskiwin	11,673	11,154
18.	Stony Plain	11,355	9,109
19.	Lacombe	10,886	9,547
20.	Canmore	10,884	10,767
21.	High River	10,767	9,383
22.	Sylvan Lake	10,661	7,894
23.	Strathmore	10,225	7,621
24.	Hinton	9,738	9,405
25.	Chestermere	9,564	3,856
26.	Whitecourt	8,971	8,334
27.	Beaumont	8,961	7,006
28.	Edson	8,098	7,585
29.	Morinville	8,007	7,726
30.	Taber	7,677	7,764
31.	Innisfail	7,316	6,969
32.	Olds Located within the County (municipality) of Mountain View County	7,248	6,607
33.	Drayton Valley	6,893	6,090
34.	Rocky Mountain House	6,874	6,208
35.	Slave Lake	6,703	6,859
36.	Banff	6,700	7,135
37.	Ponoka	6,591	6,355
38.	Drumheller	6,544	6,556
39.	Devon	6,256	4,969

Sources: All figures are taken from the census data released by Statistics Canada.
Except for Urban Areas, in all cases where a boundary change occurred between censuses the population of the original area is shown in brackets.

[edit] Ethnicity

Canadian	813,485	27.66%
English	753,190	25.61%
German	576,350	19.60%
Scottish	556,575	18.92%
Irish	461,065	15.68%
French	332,675	11.31%
Ukrainian	285,725	9.71%
Dutch (Netherlands)	149,225	5.07%
North American Indian	144,040	4.90%
Polish	137,625	4.68%
Norwegian	120,045	4.08%
Chinese	108,050	3.67%
Swedish	78,565	2.67%
Italian	67,655	2.30%
Métis	63,620	2.16%
Russian	62,750	2.13%
East Indian	61,180	2.08%
Welsh	59,470	2.02%

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The ethnicities most commonly reported in the 2001 Census are shown in the table on the left. Of the 2,941,450 responses to the census question concerning ethnicity, 387,445 people (13.17%) identified themselves as simply Canadian or Canadien while 426,035 (14.49%) also selected another ethnicity, making a total of 813,485 (27.66%) for Canadian. The percentages add up to more than 100% because of dual responses (e.g. "Irish-Canadian" generates an entry in both the category "Irish" and the category "Canadian". In addition to the groups listed on the left, the next most commonly reported (counting both single and multiple responses) were 50,465 Danish; 49,875 American (USA); 41,535 Hungarian (Magyar); 36,235 Filipino; 27,910 Austrian (0.95%); 21,490 Vietnamese (0.73%); 20,235 Romanian (0.69%); 20,185 British n.i.e. (0.69%); 19,295 Spanish (0.66%); 17,660 Lebanese (0.60%); 17,460 Swiss (0.59%); 15,765 Czech (0.54%); 15,435 Jewish (0.52%); 14,925 Belgian (0.50%); 13,885 Portuguese (0.47%); 13,065 Icelandic (0.44%); 12,730 Finnish (0.43%); 11,945 Japanese (0.41%); 9,110 Greek (0.31%); 8,805 Scandinavian n.i.e. (0.30%); 8,565 Croatian (0.29%); 8,345 Czechoslovakian (0.28%); and 7,925 (0.27%) for both Jamaican and Korean.^[6] {Ethnicities with more than 7,438 respondents (0.25%) are listed}

Other than 50,000 reportedly to stated "USA" or having United States/American origins, it is not fully known how many Albertans are of United States origins, due to a large influx of settlers from the United States in various times came into the province during the 19th (farmers and homesteaders) and 20th centuries (ranchers and oil refinery workers), along with an open border between the two countries. Calgary is said to hold the largest American-Canadian population in Canada by percentage (about 10%), but Edmonton and Red Deer may hold higher numbers of persons whose families had originated from the U.S. American-Canadians in Alberta includes white Europeans often of Southeastern background, many are Black or African-Americans, some Mexican-Texans from Texas and Mexican immigrants as well, Chinese and other Asians unable to become U.S. citizens in the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Acts, and American Indians from Oklahoma and other states.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Languages

The 2006 census showed a population of 3,290,350. Of the 3,221,420 singular responses to the census question concerning mother tongue, the languages most commonly reported were:

		2006	%	2001	%
1.	English	2,576,670	79.99%	2,379,515	81.84%
2.	Chinese languages	97,275	3.02%	78,205	2.69%
	Cantonese	32,485	1.01%	26,255	0.90%
	Mandarin	12,135	0.38%	5,580	0.19%
	Hakka	425	0.01%	570	0.02%
	Fukien	385	0.01%	N	N
	Taiwanese	330	0.01%	N	N
3.	German	84,505	2.62%	78,040	2.68%
4.	French	61,225	1.90%	58,645	2.02%
5.	Panjabi (Punjabi)	36,320	1.13%	22,535	0.78%
6.	Tagalog (Filipino/Pilipino)	29,740	0.92%	11,705	0.40%
7.	Ukrainian	29,455	0.91%	33,970	1.17%
8.	Spanish	29,125	0.90%	19,820	0.68%
9.	Polish	21,990	0.68%	20,635	0.71%
10.	Algonquian languages	20,890	0.65%	18,470	0.64%
	Cree	17,215	0.53%	15,105	0.52%
	Blackfoot	3,015	0.09%	2,630	0.09%
	Ojibway	615	0.02%	645	0.02%
11.	Arabic	20,495	0.64%	15,390	0.53%
12.	Dutch	19,980	0.62%	19,575	0.67%
13.	Vietnamese	19,350	0.60%	16,680	0.57%
14.	Italian	13,095	0.41%	13,935	0.48%
15.	Urdu	11,275	0.35%	4,910	0.17%
16.	Korean	10,845	0.33%	6,330	0.22%
17.	Serbo-Croatian languages	10,235	0.32%	9,500	0.33%
	Croatian	4,150	0.13%	4,195	0.14%
	Serbian	3,090	0.10%	2,125	0.07%
	Bosnian	1,745	0.05%	N	N
	Serbo-Croatian	1,250	0.04%	3,180	0.11%
18.	Hindi	8,985	0.28%	6,315	0.22%
19.	Persian (Farsi)	7,700	0.24%	3,700	0.13%
20.	Portuguese	7,205	0.22%	6,110	0.21%
21.	Hungarian	6,770	0.21%	6,985	0.24%
22.	Gujarati	6,280	0.19%	4,910	0.17%
23.	Scandinavian languages	6,045	0.19%	6,795	0.23%
	Danish	3,510	0.11%	3,615	0.12%
	Norwegian	1,245	0.04%	1,670	0.06%
	Swedish	1,145	0.04%	1,345	0.05%
24.	Japanese	4,555	0.14%	3,625	0.12%
25.	Romanian	4,370	0.14%	2,890	0.10%
26.	Siouan languages (Dakota/Sioux)	3,790	0.12%	2,775	0.10%
27.	Greek	3,305	0.10%	2,765	0.10%
28.	Somali	3,130	0.10%	810	0.03%
29.	Czech	3,100	0.08%	3,520	0.12%
30.	Amharic	2,785	0.09%	1,100	0.04%
31.	Bengali	2,710	0.08%	1,190	0.04%
32.	African languages n.i.e.	2,525	0.08%	930	0.03%
33.	Slovak	2,430	0.08%	1,605	0.06%
34.	Bantu languages	2,170	0.07%	795	0.03%
	Swahili	850	0.03%	380	0.01%
35.	Germanic languages n.i.e.	2,085	0.06%	1,210	0.04%
36.	Sindhi	2,000	0.06%	1,990	0.07%
37.	Athapaskan languages	1,970	0.06%	2,110	0.07%
	Dene	1,585	0.05%	1,495	0.05%
39.	Ilocano	1,885	0.06%	N	N
40.	Khmer (Cambodian)	1,740	0.05%	1,450	0.05%
41.	Turkish	1,605	0.05%	810	0.03%
42.	Malayalam	1,550	0.05%	1,055	0.04%
43.	Tamil	1,385	0.04%	1,110	0.04%
44=	Bisayan languages	1,370	0.04%	N	N
44=	Indo-Iranian languages n.i.e.	1,370	0.04%	700	0.02%
46.	Finnish	1,265	0.04%	1,240	0.04%
47.	Pashto	1,175	0.04%	275	0.01%
48.	Tigrigna	1,170	0.04%	800	0.03%
49.	Lao	1,035	0.03%	1,035	0.04%
50.	Bulgarian	1,020	0.03%	400	0.01%

There were also about 915 responses for Slovenian; 850 for Creole; 845 for Niger-Congo languages n.i.e.; 830 for Malay and Sinhala (Sinhalese); 770 for Hebrew; 745 for Kurdish; 735 for Slavic languages n.i.e.; 710 for Sign languages; 640 for Thai; 585 for Malayo-Polynesian languages n.i.e.; 550 for Telugu; 530 for Twi; 525 for Oromo; 495 for Marathi; 465 for Frisian; 420 for Celtic languages; 415 for Semitic languages n.i.e.; 400 for Lithuanian; 370 for Kannada; 360 for Latvian; and 345 for Flemish and Sino-Tibetan languages n.i.e.. (Mother tongues of more than 329 persons are listed.)^[7]

In addition to the single-language responses detailed above, about 34,935 people reported having more than one mother tongue. There were 27,725 responses of both English and a non-official language; 1,325 of both French and a non-official language; 5,405 of both English and French; and 480 of English, French and a non-official language. About 3,705 people reported having Tagalog as a dual mother tongue; while 3,140 people reported having German; 1,350 reported having a Chinese language; 1,935 reported Cree; 1,815 Ukrainian; 1,735 Arabic; 1,205 Panjabi; 855 Cantonese; 855 Urdu; 775 Italian; 760 Dutch; 715 Polish; 710 Vietnamese; 620 Gujarati; 550 Hindi; and 345 people reported having Portuguese as a dual mother tongue. (Dual mother tongues of more than 329 persons are listed.)^[8]

[edit] Migration

[edit] Immigration

The 2006 Canadian census counted a total of 527,030 immigrants living in Alberta, 295,390 of whom arrived before 1991.
The most common countries of birth for immigrants living in Alberta were: ^[9]

1.	United Kingdom	60,215
2.	China	41,495
3.	India	38,610
4.	Philippines	36,630
5.	United States	28,320
6.	Vietnam	24,270
7.	Germany	21,565
8.	Poland	19,160
9.	Hong Kong	17,455
10.	Netherlands	16,715
11.	Pakistan	12,095
12.	Yugoslavia	11,675
13.	Italy	8,705
14.	South Korea	8,120
15.	Lebanon	7,525
16.	Mexico	5,970
17.	El Salvador	5,475
18.	Ukraine	5,435
19.	Romania	5,165
20.	South Africa	4,950

In addition to the countries listed in the table on the left there were also about 4,850 immigrants from Russia; and about 4,440 from Portugal; 4,345 from Chile; 4,080 from Hungary; 4,035 from Tanzania; 3,990 from Iran; 3,970 from Fiji; 3,760 from Jamaica; 3,655 from Ethiopia; 3,425 from Kenya; 3,395 from Sudan; approximately 3,300 from Afghanistan; 3,260 from Trinidad and Tobago; 3,215 from Malaysia; 3,200 from Denmark; and also 3,155 from Colombia; 2,645 from the Czech Republic; 2,475 from Ireland (Eire); 2,450 from Australia; and 2,420 from Guyana; 2,375 from Cambodia; 2,320 from Taiwan; 2,300 from Iraq; 2,265 from Japan; and 2,140 from Egypt; 2,120 from Somalia; 2,065 from France; 2,040 from Austria; 2,035 from Brunei Darussalam; 1,940 from Greece; 1,845 from Slovakia; 1,840 from Switzerland; 1,835 from Bangladesh; 1,740 from Nigeria; 1,600 from Sri Lanka; 1,545 from New Zealand and Uganda; 1,360 from Guatemala; 1,350 from Venezuela; 1,340 from Honduras; 1,300 from Indonesia; 1,245 from Turkey; 1,150 from Laos; 1,130 from Brazil; 1,120 from Thailand; 1,060 from Ghana; 1,040 from Singapore; 1,010 from Zimbabwe; 975 from Syria; 965 from Eritrea; 940 from Israel; 935 from Bulgaria; 920 from Belgium; 895 from Bolivia; 865 from Argentina; 810 from Peru; 785 from the Democratic Republic of the Congo; 755 from Kazakhstan; 745 from Finland; 720 from Belarus; 705 from Saudi Arabia; and 700 from Sweden. {Countries of of birth for more than 658 persons (0.02%) are shown.}

[edit] Internal migration

A total of 469,095 people moved to Alberta from other parts of Canada between 1996 and 2006 while 261,500 people moved in the opposite direction. These movements resulted in a net influx of 51,235 people from British Columbia, 42,180 people from Saskatchewan, 31,425 people from Ontario, 23,875 people from Manitoba, 18,820 people from Newfoundland and Labrador, 11,925 people from Nova Scotia, 11,720 people from Quebec, and 8,410 people from New Brunswick. During this period there was a net influx of 2,710 francophones from Quebec, 1,545 francophones from Ontario, 1,355 francophones from New Brunswick, 775 francophones from Saskatchewan, 575 francophones from Manitoba, 500 francophones from British Columbia, 340 francophones from Nova Scotia, and 5,585 anglophones from Quebec. (All net inter-provincial movements of more than 5,000 persons and net official language minority movements of more than 100 persons are given.)^[10][11]

[edit] Religion

Over 71 percent of Albertans identify as Christian, while almost 24 percent of residents identify with no religion. The largest denominations are the Roman Catholic, United, Anglican, Lutheran, and Baptist Churches. Almost 2 percent of Albertans are Mormons descended from pioneers who emigrated from Utah around the turn of the 20th century; there are temples in many parts of the province. Alberta also has large numbers of Pentecostal, Presbyterians, and evangelical Christians. There are significant numbers of Mennonites and Hutterites, which are communal Anabaptist sects. There are also many Jehovah's Witnesses and Reformed Christians, as well a significant population of Seventh-day Adventists in and around Lacombe where the Canadian University College is located.
Alberta is also home to several Eastern Rite Churches as part of the legacy of Eastern European immigrants, including the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Edmonton, and the Ukrainian Orthodox Diocese of Edmonton and Western Canada.

Many people of the Hindu, Sikh, and Muslim faiths also make Alberta their home; one of the largest Sikh temples in Canada is located just outside of Edmonton. Most of Alberta's 13,000-some Jews live in Calgary (7,500) and Edmonton (5,000).^[12]

Religion	Denomination	Congregation	Proportion
Protestant		1,145,455	38.95%
	United Church	396,060	13.47%
	Anglican Church	172,430	5.86%
	Lutheran	142,530	4.85%
	Baptist	73,640	2.50%
	Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon)	50,580	1.72%
	Pentecostal	42,610	1.45%
	Presbyterian	29,200	0.99%
	Christian and Missionary Alliance	23,715	0.81%
	Mennonite	22,785	0.77%
	Jehovah’s Witnesses	18,830	0.64%
	Evangelical Missionary Church	17,640	0.60%
	Hutterite	12,325	0.42%
	Christian Reformed Church	12,980	0.44%
	Adventist	8,135	0.28%
	Non-denominational	5,965	0.20%
	Salvation Army	5,055	0.17%
	Church of the Nazarene	4,385	0.15%
	Evangelical Free Church	3,640	0.12%
	Canadian and American Reformed Churches	2,835	0.10%
	Reformed	2,650	0.09%
	Dutch Reformed	2,265	0.08%
	Church of God	2,095	0.07%
	Moravian	2,035	0.07%
	Disciples of Christ	2,020	0.07%
	Methodist	1,900	0.06%
	Unitarian	1,500	0.05%
	Brethren in Christ	990	0.03%
	Congregational	760	0.03%

Religion	Denomination	Congregation	Proportion
Catholic		784,855	26.69%
	Roman Catholic	756,005	25.70%
	Ukrainian Catholic	28,750	0.98%
Orthodox		45,985	1.56%
	Greek Orthodox	21,880	0.74%
	Ukrainian Orthodox	9,865	0.34%
	Russian Orthodox	1,735	0.06%
	Serbian Orthodox	960	0.03%
Other Christian		123,145	4.19%
Muslim		49,045	1.67%
Buddhist		33,415	1.14%
Sikh		23,470	0.80%
Hindu		15,970	0.54%
Jewish		11,090	0.38%
Other Eastern Religions		3,330	0.11%
	Bahá'í	1,525	0.05%
Aboriginal spirituality		5,860	0.20%
Pagan		3,035	0.10%
No religious affiliation		694,840	23.62%
	No religion	678,880	23.08%
	Agnostic	2,475	0.08%
	Atheist	2,380	0.08%

Percentages are calculated as a proportion of the total number of respondents (2,941,150 in 2001)
Only groups of more than 0.025% are shown ^[13]

[edit] See also

• Demographics of Canada
• List of Canadian provinces and territories by population

[edit] References

v • d • e Topics on Alberta History Fur trade • Numbered Treaties • Alberta Act • Oil exploration• Oil sands • Social Credit • Historic sites • Natural gas liquids Politics Political parties • Elections (last) • Government • Lieutenant Governor • Cabinet • Premiers (current) • Speaker • Legislature • Electoral districts (federal) Geography Demographics • Mountains • Provincial parks • Lakes • Rivers Communities Counties and Municipal Districts • Towns • Villages • Hamlets • Indian Reserves • Métis • Census divisions Economy Companies • ATB • Tourism • Highways • Airports Culture Education • Festivals • First Nations • Franco-Albertan • Music • Sports • People • Symbols • Flag • Coat of arms • Anthem

v • d • e Demographics of Canada (by province or territory) British Columbia · Alberta · Saskatchewan · Manitoba · Ontario · Quebec · New Brunswick · Nova Scotia · Prince Edward Island · Newfoundland and Labrador · Yukon · Northwest Territories · Nunavut