Demographics of Alberta

Alberta has experienced a relatively high rate of growth in recent years, due in large part to its economy. Between 2003 and 2004, the province saw high birthrates, relatively high immigration, and a high rate of interprovincial migration when compared to other provinces. 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 Alberta and is one of Canada's four most urban regions. Many of Alberta's cities and towns have also experienced high rates of growth in recent history. From a population of 73,022 in 1901, Alberta has grown to 4,262,635 in 2021 and in the process has gone from less than 1.5% of Canada's population to 11.5%. It is the fourth most populated province in Canada. Between the 2016 and 2021 censuses, the Alberta population grew by 4.8%.

Population history

Year	Population	Five-year %change	Ten-year %change	Percentage of Canadian	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
1969	1,463,203	9.9	30.3	n/a	4
1971	1,627,875	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	2,365,830	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	22.0	10.4	4
2011	3,645,257	10.8	22.5	10.9	4
2016	4,067,175	11.6	23.6	11.6	4
2021	4,262,635	4.8	16.9	11.5	4

† 1901 population for District of Alberta, part of the then-named North-West Territories.

Population geography

Census metropolitan areas

As of the 2011 census, Alberta had two census metropolitan areas recognized by Statistics Canada. A third one was added in the 2016 census.
The following is a list of the recent population history of the Calgary and Edmonton CMAs.

CMA name	2021	2016	2011	2006	2001	1996	Census division
Calgary	1,481,806	1,374,655	1,214,839	1,079,310	951,395	821,628	Division No. 6
Edmonton	1,418,118	1,297,280	1,159,869	1,034,945	937,845	862,597	Division No. 11

The third CMA added in 2016 is Lethbridge, and its population history is as follows:

CMA name	2021	2016	Census division
Lethbridge	123,847	113,920	Division No. 2

The fourth CMA added in 2021 is Red Deer, and its population history is as follows:

CMA name	2021	Census division
Red Deer	100,844	Division No. 8

''CMA notes:''

Census subdivisions

As of the 2006 census, Alberta had 453 census subdivisions recognized by Statistics Canada. The following is a list of those census subdivisions with a population of 10,000 or greater.

Name	Municipal status	2011	2006	2001	1996	Notes
Calgary	City	1,096,833	988,193	878,866	768,082
Edmonton	City	812,201	730,372	666,104	616,306
Strathcona County	Specialized municipality	92,490	82,511	71,986	64,176	Located within the Edmonton CMA
Red Deer	City	90,564	82,772	67,707	60,075
Lethbridge	City	83,517	74,637	67,374	63,053
Wood Buffalo	Specialized municipality	65,565	51,496	41,466	35,213
St. Albert	City	61,466	57,719	53,081	46,888	Located within the Edmonton CMA
Medicine Hat	City	60,005	56,997	51,249	46,783
Grande Prairie	City	55,032	47,076	36,983	31,140
Airdrie	City	42,564	28,927	20,382	15,946	Located within the Calgary CMA
Rocky View County	Municipal district	36,461	34,171	30,688	23,326	Located within the Calgary CMA
Parkland County	Municipal district	30,568	29,265	27,252	24,769	Located within the Edmonton CMA
Spruce Grove	City	26,171	19,496	15,983	14,271	Located within the Edmonton CMA
Okotoks	Town	24,511	17,145	11,664	8,510
Leduc	City	24,279	16,967	15,032	14,305	Located within the Edmonton CMA
Foothills No. 31	Municipal district	21,258	19,736	16,764	13,714
County of Grande Prairie No. 1	Municipal district	20,347	17,970	15,638	13,750
Sturgeon County	Municipal district	19,578	18,621	18,067	15,945	Located within the Edmonton CMA
Fort Saskatchewan	City	19,051	14,957	13,121	12,408	Located within the Edmonton CMA
Red Deer County	Municipal district	18,351	19,108	18,639	17,126
Lloydminster	City	18,032	15,910	13,148	11,317	Population totals do not include the part of the city located within Saskatchewan
Cochrane	Town	17,580	13,780	11,798	7,424	Located within Calgary CMA
Camrose	City	17,286	15,620	14,854	13,728
Stony Plain	Town	15,051	12,363	9,589	8,274	Located within the Edmonton CMA
Chestermere	Town	14,824	9,564	3,414	1,911
Beaumont	Town	13,284	8,961	7,006	5,810	Located within the Edmonton CMA
Cold Lake	City	13,839	11,991	11,520	4,089
Brooks	City	13,676	12,498	11,604	10,093
Leduc County	Municipal district	13,541	12,730	12,528	12,361	Located within the Edmonton CMA
High River	Town	12,920	10,716	9,345	7,359
Wetaskiwin	City	12,525	11,673	11,154	10,959
Mountain View County	Municipal district	12,359	12,391	12,134	11,277
Sylvan Lake	Town	12,327	10,208	7,493	5,178
Strathmore	Town	12,305	10,225	7,621	5,282
Canmore	Town	12,288	12,039	10,792	8,354
Clearwater County	Municipal district	12,278	11,826	11,505	10,915
Lacombe	City	11,707	10,742	9,384	8,018
Yellowhead County	Municipal district	11,469	10,045	9,881	9,352
Bonnyville No. 87	Municipal district	11,191	10,194	9,473	17,352
Mackenzie County	Specialized municipality	10,927	10,002	8,829	7,980
County of Wetaskiwin No. 10	Municipal district	10,866	10,535	10,695	10,467
Lacombe County	Municipal district	10,312	10,451	10,159	10,081
Lethbridge County	Municipal district	10,061	10,302	9,930	9,290

Ethnic origins

The ethnicities most commonly reported in the 2021 Census are shown in the table below. The percentages add up to more than 100% because of multiple responses.

Languages

Knowledge of languages

The question on knowledge of languages allows for multiple responses, and first appeared on the 1991 Canadian census.

Mother tongue

Of the 4,221,835 singular responses to the 2021 census question concerning mother tongue, the languages most commonly reported were:
In addition to the table above, other mother tongues in Alberta include :

2,120 Bosnian;
2,100 Slovak;
2,070 Khmer (Cambodian);
1,720 Pampangan;
1,655 Marathi;
1,495 Indonesian;
1,470 Kurdish;
1,435 Nilo-Saharan languages;
1,390 Bulgarian;
1,355 Sign languages;
1,155 Lao;
1,135 Hebrew;
1,020 Neo-Aramaic;
865 Kannada;
815 Finnish;
810 Karenic languages;
745 Tibetan;
730 Bilen;
715 Waray;
635 Mongolian;
635 Pangasinan;
625 Slovenian;
590 Armenian;
570 Lithuanian;
545 Burmese;
545 Malay;
425 Macedonian;

In addition to the single-language responses detailed above, about 88,765 people reported having more than one mother tongue. There were 74,515 responses of both English and a non-official language; 2,785 of both French and a non-official language; 10,005 of both English and French; and 1,455 of English, French and a non-official language.

Religion

Just under 50 percent of Albertans identify as Christian, while over 40 percent of residents identify with no religion. The largest denominations are the Roman Catholic, United, Anglican, Lutheran, and Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches.
Just over 1 percent of Albertans are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, descended from pioneers who emigrated from Utah around the turn of the 20th century; there are three temples in 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. There are 500 Doukhobors living in their few communities across Southern Alberta.
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 Edmonton. Most of Alberta's Jewish population of 11,390 lives in Calgary and Edmonton.
Alberta's second largest religion, Islam, has roots that include Canada's first mosque, Al-Rashid Mosque, built in 1938 led by a Lebanese woman named Hilwie Hamdon.

Migration

Immigration

The 2021 census reported that immigrants comprise 970,975 persons or 23.2 percent of the total population of Alberta.

Recent immigration

The 2021 Canadian census counted a total of 193,170 people who immigrated to Alberta between 2016 and 2021.

Interprovincial migration

Over the past five decades, Alberta has had the highest net increase from interprovincial migration of any province. However, it typically experiences population decline during economic downturns, as it did during the 1980s. Oil is the main industry driving interprovincial migration to Alberta, as many Canadians move to Alberta to work on the oil fields. Interprovincial migration to Alberta rises and drops dependent of the price of oil. There was a dramatic reduction after the 2014 drop in oil prices.

	In-migrants	Out-migrants	Net migration
2009–10	57,958	61,229	−3,271
2010–11	63,975	55,532	8,443
2011–12	80,837	53,185	27,652
2012–13	84,602	46,004	38,598
2013–14	87,307	51,925	35,382
2014–15	81,540	59,946	21,594
2015–16	56,978	72,086	−15,108
2016–17	50,396	65,955	−15,559
2017–18	55,147	58,394	−3,247
2018–19	65,778	60,236	5,542
2019–20	85,919	77,519	8,400

''Source: Statistics Canada''