Census: Canada is aging, breakdown of Southern Alberta communities

In the last five years, the number of people aged 65 and older rose by 18.3% to approximately seven million, the second-largest increase in the last 75 years.

Likewise, in the last 20 years, we have seen a doubling of those who are at least 85 years old to 861,000 in 2021.

Between 2016 and 2021, the number of seniors who are 65+ outpaced the number of children under the age of 15 by six times.

“These demographic shifts are due to low fertility (the total fertility rate at fewer than two children per woman for nearly 50 years), the gradual increase in life expectancy, and the fact that the large baby boom generation (born between 1946 and 1965) started turning 65 in 2011.”

Alberta, however, is one of the younger jurisdictions among Canadian provinces and territories.

The province has a higher percentage of youths under the age of 15 (19%) compared to the national average (16.3%), a higher percentage of the working population between 15 and 64 years of age (66.2%) compared to the national average (64.8%), and fewer seniors (14.8%) than the national average (19%).

The average age of Albertans in 2021 is 39.

LNN looked at 10 communities across Southern Alberta and found that Raymond is the youngest in the region with an average age of 37.4.

The average person in Claresholm is 50.9 years old, the oldest in Southern Alberta.

Lethbridge is closer to the provincial norm with an average age of 40.2. The city has more people in the younger half of the working population compared to the rest of Alberta but is also home to more seniors than elsewhere in Alberta.

Stats Canada says Lethbridge is among the five large urban centres with the highest proportion of children under the age of 15. The top five are all in Alberta and Saskatchewan and include Saskatoon, Lethbridge, Regina, Edmonton, and Calgary.

Alberta – Total population 4,262,635

Average age 39
Male: 49.9% Female: 50.1%
0-14: 19%
15-39: 33.7%
40-64: 32.6%
65+: 14.8%

Lethbridge – Total population 98,406

Average age 40.2
Male: 49.1%. Female: 50.09%
0-14: 17.3%
15-39: 35.2%
40-64: 29.4%
65+: 18.1%

Medicine Hat – Total population 63,275

Average age 42.7
Male: 48.7% Female: 51.3%
0-14: 16.8%
15-39: 29.8%
40-64: 32.4%
65+: 21%

Taber – Total population 8,862

Average age 38
Male: 49.4% Female: 50.6%
0-14: 22.2%
15-39: 32.5%
40-64: 29.5%
65+: 15.8%

Coaldale – Total population 8,771

Average age 38.8
Male: 50.3% Female: 49.7%
0-14: 22.1%
15-39: 31.8%
40-64: 28.7%
65+: 17.5%

Crowsnest Pass– Total population 5,695

Average age 48.3
Male: 51.2% Female: 48.8%
0-14: 12.6%
15-39: 22.4%
40-64: 37.4%
65+: 27.7%

Raymond – Total population 4,199

Average age 37.4
Male: 50% Female: 50%
0-14: 26.3%
15-39: 29.6%
40-64: 25%
65+: 18.8%

Claresholm – Total population 3,804

Average age 50.9
Male: 49% Female: 51%
0-14: 12.6%
15-39: 20.4%
40-64: 30.9%
65+: 36%

Cardston – Total population 3,724

Average age 41.9
Male: 48.5% Female: 51.5%
0-14: 23.2%
15-39: 26.3%
40-64: 24.4%
65+: 26.2%

Pincher Creek – Total population 3,622

Average age 44.6
Male: 48.3% Female: 51.7%
0-14: 17.7%
15-39: 26.4%
40-64: 29.3%
65+: 26.5%

Fort Macleod– Total population 3,297

Average age 42.4
Male: 48.5% Female: 51.5%
0-14: 18.5%
15-39: 30%
40-64: 30%
65+: 23.3%
(Statistics Canada)

(Statistics Canada)

(Statistics Canada)

by David Opinko

Census: Canada is aging, breakdown of Southern Alberta communities

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