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Focus on Geography Series, 2011 Census

Census agglomeration of Medicine Hat, Alberta

Map of Medicine Hat

Interactive version of map

Population, 2011 and 2006 censuses

Chart A description: Medicine Hat, CA - Population, 2011 and 2006 censuses

Prov. rank

Nat. rank

In 2011, the population of Medicine Hat census agglomeration (CA) was 72,807, representing a percentage change of 5.8% from 2006. This compares to the national growth of 5.9% and to the average growth among all CAs of 4.2%.

In Medicine Hat, the land area is 13,288.65 square kilometres with a population density of 5.5 persons per square kilometre. This compares to the national land area of 8,965,121.42 square kilometres with a population density of 3.7 persons per square kilometre. The land area of all CAs is 232,264.62 square kilometres with 18.56 persons per square kilometre.

In total, there were 30,046 private dwellings occupied by usual residents in Medicine Hat in 2011. The change in private dwellings occupied by usual residents from 2006 was 7.8%. For Canada as a whole, the number of private dwellings occupied by usual residents increased 7.1%.

Population and dwelling counts

Census subdivisions in the Medicine Hat CA

Table 1 Medicine Hat CA – Census subdivisions, population change, 2006 to 2011
Census subdivision (CSD) name	Type	Population
Census subdivision (CSD) name	Type	2011	2006	% change
Medicine Hat	CY	60,005	56,997	5.3
Cypress County	MD	7,214	6,709 A	7.5
Redcliff	T	5,588	5,116 A	9.2

Census metropolitan areas (CMAs) or census agglomerations (CAs) in Alberta

Table 2 Alberta – Metropolitan areas, population rank and population change, 2006 to 2011
CMA or CA name	Type	Population			Rank
CMA or CA name	Type	2011	2006	% change	Nat.	Prov.
Calgary	CMA	1,214,839	1,079,310	12.6	5	1
Edmonton	CMA	1,159,869	1,034,945	12.1	6	2
Lethbridge	CA	105,999	95,196	11.3	34	3
Red Deer	CA	90,564	83,154 A	8.9	43	4
Medicine Hat	CA	72,807	68,822	5.8	50	5
Wood Buffalo	CA	66,896	52,643	27.1	51	6
Grande Prairie	CA	55,032	47,107 A	16.8	59	7
Lloydminster	CA	30,798	27,023	14.0	87	···
Lloydminster (Saskatchewan part / partie de la Saskatchewan)		12,766	11,113	14.9	···	9
Lloydminster (Alberta part / partie de l'Alberta)		18,032	15,910	13.3	···	10
Okotoks	CA	24,511	17,150 A	42.9	101	8
Brooks	CA	23,430	22,452	4.4	103	9
Camrose	CA	17,286	15,630 A	10.6	117	11
Cold Lake	CA	13,839	11,991	15.4	127	12
High River	CA	12,920	10,716 A	20.6	134	13
Sylvan Lake	CA	12,762	10,703 A	19.2	136	14
Wetaskiwin	CA	12,525	11,689 A	7.2	138	15
Strathmore	CA	12,305	10,280 A	19.7	140	16
Canmore	CA	12,288	12,039	2.1	141	17
Lacombe	CA	11,707	10,752 A	8.9	144	18

Age and sex

Medicine Hat – Age distribution

Chart C: Medicine Hat - Population by broad age groups

Chart C description: Medicine Hat - Population by broad age groups

Table 3 Medicine Hat – Age distributions by broad age groups and sex, 2011 Census
Age groups	Both sexes	Males	Females
0 to 14	18.3%	18.9%	17.8%
15 to 64	66.8%	67.8%	65.9%
65 and over	14.8%	13.3%	16.3%

In 2011, the percentage of the population aged 65 and over in Medicine Hat was 14.8%, compared with a national percentage of 14.8%. The percentage of the working age population (15 to 64) was 66.8% and the percentage of children aged 0 to 14 was 18.3%. In comparison, the national percentages were 68.5% for the population aged 15 to 64 and 16.7% for the population aged 0 to 14.

Medicine Hat – Population by broad age groups and sex

Table 4 Medicine Hat – Population by broad age groups and sex, and population change between 2006 and 2011, 2006 to 2011 censuses
Broad age groups by sex	Population
Broad age groups by sex	2011	2006	change	% change
Both sexes
Total	72,810	68,825	3,985	5.8
0 to 14	13,355	12,510	845	6.8
15 to 64	48,665	46,345	2,320	5.0
65 and over	10,795	9,975	820	8.2
Males
Total	35,775	34,070	1,705	5.0
0 to 14	6,760	6,310	450	7.1
15 to 64	24,245	23,450	795	3.4
65 and over	4,775	4,320	455	10.5
Females
Total	37,035	34,750	2,285	6.6
0 to 14	6,595	6,200	395	6.4
15 to 64	24,415	22,900	1,515	6.6
65 and over	6,025	5,655	370	6.5

Medicine Hat – Population by five-year age groups and sex

Chart D description: Medicine Hat - Population by five-year age groups and sex

Table 5 Medicine Hat – Population by five-year age groups and sex, 2011 Census
Age groups	Both sexes	Males	Females
Total - Age groups	72,810	35,775	37,035
0 to 4 years	4,575	2,370	2,210
5 to 9 years	4,325	2,175	2,155
10 to 14 years	4,445	2,215	2,230
15 to 19 years	4,475	2,295	2,180
20 to 24 years	4,555	2,305	2,245
25 to 29 years	5,040	2,480	2,555
30 to 34 years	5,020	2,505	2,520
35 to 39 years	4,620	2,340	2,285
40 to 44 years	4,650	2,335	2,310
45 to 49 years	5,335	2,645	2,690
50 to 54 years	5,760	2,840	2,920
55 to 59 years	5,165	2,550	2,615
60 to 64 years	4,055	1,950	2,105
65 to 69 years	3,060	1,430	1,630
70 to 74 years	2,480	1,165	1,320
75 to 79 years	2,090	995	1,100
80 to 84 years	1,650	675	975
85 to 89 years	985	365	620
90 to 94 years	420	110	315
95 to 99 years	100	30	70
100 years and over	5	5	5
Median age	39.3	38.3	40.3

Medicine Hat – Median age¹ of the population

Chart E: Canada, Alberta and Medicine Hat - Median age, 2006 and 2011 censuses

Chart E description: Canada, Alberta and Medicine Hat - Median age, 2006 and 2011 censuses

The median age in Medicine Hat was 39.3 years. In comparison, the median age of Alberta was 36.5 years.

Table 6 Canada, Alberta and Medicine Hat – Median age, 2006 and 2011 censuses
	Median age
	2006	2011
Canada	39.5	40.6
Alberta	36.0	36.5
Medicine Hat	38.3	39.3

Families and households

In 2011, the number of census families² in Medicine Hat was 20,890, which represents a change of 5.8% from 2006. This compares to a growth rate for Canada of 5.5% over the same period.

In Medicine Hat, 71.7% of census families were married couples in 2011, while 13.3% were common-law-couples and 15.0% were lone-parent families.

Chart F: Medicine Hat - Census families by family structure

Chart F description: Medicine Hat - Census families by family structure

Medicine Hat – Family structure

Table 7 Canada, Alberta, Medicine Hat – Distribution of census families by family structure, 2011 Census
Geographic name	Total families	Married-couple families		Common-law-couple families		Lone-parent families		% change, census families, 2006 to 2011
Geographic name	Total families	number	%	number	%	number	%	% change, census families, 2006 to 2011
Canada †	9,389,695	6,293,950	67.0	1,567,905	16.7	1,527,840	16.3	5.5
Alberta †	999,525	719,355	72.0	135,660	13.6	144,510	14.5	10.5
Medicine Hat	20,890	14,985	71.7	2,780	13.3	3,125	15.0	5.8

Medicine Hat – Presence of children within couple families

Married couples		Common-law-couples
with children	without children	with children	without children
6,625 (37.3%)	8,360 (47.0%)	1,140 ( 6.4%)	1,640 ( 9.2%)

Chart G description: Medicine Hat - Presence of children within couple families

Among couples (married and common-law) in the census agglomeration of Medicine Hat, 43.7% were couples with children aged 24 and under at home. In comparison, as a whole, 46.9% of couples in Canada had children aged 24 and under at home.

Among couples with children aged 24 and under at home in the census agglomeration of Medicine Hat, 84.1% were intact families, that is, in which all children were the biological or adopted children of both parents, while 15.8% were stepfamilies, in which there was at least one child was the biological or adopted child of only one married spouse or common-law partner. For Canada as a whole in 2011, 12.6% of couples with children aged 24 and under were stepfamilies.

Medicine Hat – Marital status

Chart H description: Medicine Hat - Marital status

In Medicine Hat, 61.0% of the total population aged 15 and over were either married (51.6%) or living with a common-law partner (9.4%).

The remaining 39.0% were not married and not living with a common-law partner, including those who were single (never-married), separated, divorced or widowed.

Note: Percentages may not total 100 percent due to random rounding.

Table 8 Canada, Alberta, Medicine Hat – Population 15 years and older by marital status, 2011 Census
Marital status	Medicine Hat		Alberta		Canada
Marital status	number	%	number	%	number	%
Total - Population 15 years and over	59,455	100.0	2,960,470	100.0	27,869,345	100.0
Married or living with a common-law partner	36,280	61.0	1,756,860	59.3	16,084,490	57.7
Married (and not separated)	30,700	51.6	1,484,705	50.2	12,941,965	46.4
Living common-law	5,580	9.4	272,155	9.2	3,142,525	11.3
Not married and not living with a common-law partner	23,175	39.0	1,203,615	40.7	11,784,855	42.3
Single (never legally married)	13,620	22.9	823,935	27.8	7,816,045	28.0
Separated	1,715	2.9	70,855	2.4	698,245	2.5
Divorced	4,225	7.1	177,375	6.0	1,686,035	6.0
Widowed	3,625	6.1	131,440	4.4	1,584,525	5.7

Medicine Hat – Types of private households

There were 30,045 private households³ in Medicine Hat in 2011, a change of 7.8% from 2006. Of these, 25.5% of households were comprised of couples with children aged 24 and under at home, a change of -0.6% compared with five years earlier.

Table 9 Canada, Alberta, Medicine Hat – Distribution of households by household type, 2011 Census
Household type⁴	Medicine Hat		Alberta		Canada
Household type⁴	number	%	number	%	number	%
Total - Private households	30,045	100.0	1,390,275	100.0	13,320,615	100.0
Couple-family households with children aged 24 and under at home⁵	7,650	25.5	407,145	29.3	3,524,915	26.5
Couple-family households without children aged 24 and under at home⁶	9,765	32.5	406,380	29.2	3,935,540	29.5
Lone-parent family households⁷	2,920	9.7	128,330	9.2	1,375,450	10.3
One-person households	8,215	27.3	342,735	24.7	3,673,310	27.6
Multiple-family households⁸	270	0.9	27,900	2.0	268,060	2.0
Other households⁹	1,220	4.1	77,785	5.6	543,340	4.1

Medicine Hat – Structural type of dwelling

In Medicine Hat, 67.7% of private households lived in single-detached houses and 0.7% lived in apartments in buildings that have five or more storeys. The rest lived in other types of dwelling structures.

Table 10 Canada, Alberta, Medicine Hat – Distribution of private households by structural type of dwelling, 2011 Census
Structural type of dwelling	Medicine Hat		Alberta		Canada
Structural type of dwelling	number	%	number	%	number	%
Total - Structural type of dwelling	30,045	100.0	1,390,275	100.0	13,320,615	100.0
Single-detached house	20,335	67.7	883,260	63.5	7,329,150	55.0
Semi-detached house	1,460	4.9	71,850	5.2	646,240	4.9
Row house	1,750	5.8	97,865	7.0	791,600	5.9
Apartment, building that has five or more storeys	205	0.7	58,205	4.2	1,234,770	9.3
Apartment, building that has fewer than five storeys	4,780	15.9	197,945	14.2	2,397,555	18.0
Apartment, duplex	500	1.7	33,505	2.4	704,485	5.3
Other single-attached house¹⁰	35	0.1	1,060	0.1	33,310	0.3
Movable dwelling¹¹	985	3.3	46,590	3.4	183,510	1.4

Language

Medicine Hat – Mother tongue

Chart J description: Medicine Hat - Mother tongue and language spoken most often at home

Note: Counts for mother tongue as well as those for language spoken most often at home include single responses only.

In Medicine Hat, 89.7% of the population reported English only as mother tongue, 1.2% reported French only, and 8.4% reported only a non-official language, in 2011. In comparison, the provincial / territorial percentages were 77.0% for English only, 1.9% for French only and 19.4% for only non-official languages.

In 2011, 95.8% of the population spoke only English most often at home, 0.3% spoke only French and 3.0% spoke only a non-official language. In comparison, the provincial / territorial percentages were 85.7% for English only, 0.7% for French only and 10.5% for only a non-official language.

Table 11 Medicine Hat – Mother tongue and language spoken most often at home, 2011 Census
Selected languages	Mother tongue		Language spoken most often at home
Selected languages	number	%	number	%
Total	71,815	100.0	71,815	100.0
English	64,385	89.7	68,790	95.8
French	830	1.2	180	0.3
Non-official language	6,050	8.4	2,180	3.0
Multiple responses	545	0.8	670	0.9

Table 12 Medicine Hat – Mother-tongue retention, 2011 Census
Mother tongue	Mother-tongue retention¹² (in percentage)
Mother tongue	Total retention; language spoken at home at least on a regular basis	Complete retention; language spoken most often at home	Partial retention; language spoken at home on a regular basis
Note: Counts for mother tongue and home language include single response of a language as well as multiple responses of a language with English and/or French.
English	99.8	99.7	0.1
French	40.4	17.6	22.8
Non-official language	58.5	39.7	18.8

Medicine Hat – Non-official languages

In Medicine Hat, the three most common mother tongues were German (4.0%), Spanish (0.9%) and Tagalog (Pilipino, Filipino) (0.4%), in 2011. In comparison, the most common mother tongues at the provincial / territorial level were German (2.3%), Tagalog (Pilipino, Filipino) (1.9%) and Panjabi (Punjabi) (1.5%).

Table 13 Medicine Hat – The most common non-official-language mother tongues, 2011 Census
Mother tongue	Number	Percentage of non-official language mother-tongue population	Percentage of total population
Note: Counts for mother tongue and home language include single response of a language as well as multiple responses of a language with English and/or French.
German	2,850	43.9	4.0
Spanish	620	9.5	0.9
Tagalog (Pilipino, Filipino)	290	4.5	0.4
Dutch	255	3.9	0.4
Chinese, n.o.s.	250	3.8	0.3

Medicine Hat – Bilingualism

Table 14 Medicine Hat – Rate of English-French bilingualism by mother tongue and age groups, 2011 Census
Age groups	Mother tongue
Age groups	Total	English	French	Non-official language
Note: Counts for mother tongue include single responses only. Consequently, the total excludes multiple responses.
Total	3.4	2.5	78.9	2.1
0 to 19	3.8	3.6	69.2	2.6
20 to 44	3.6	2.9	77.3	2.8
45 to 64	3.1	1.7	79.7	2.6
65 and over	2.6	1.1	78.0	0.7

Table 15 Medicine Hat – Knowledge of official languages, 2011 Census
Knowledge of official languages	Number	Percentage
Total	71,815	100.0
English only	68,900	95.9
French only	15	0.0
English and French	2,495	3.5
Neither English nor French	400	0.6

Symbols:

···: not applicable
†: excludes census data for one or more incompletely enumerated Indian reserves or Indian settlements. For further information, refer to Notes.
¶: incompletely enumerated Indian reserve or Indian settlement. For further information, refer to Notes.
A: adjusted figure due to boundary change. For further information, refer to Content considerations.
E: use with caution. For further information, refer to Cautionary note.

Footnotes

Footnote 1

Median age: Age 'x' that divides a population in two groups of the same population size, one group being older than age 'x' and the other group being younger than age 'x'.

Return to footnote 1 referrer

Footnote 2

Census family: Refers to a married couple (with or without children), a common-law couple (with or without children) or a lone parent family.

Return to footnote 2 referrer

Footnote 3

Household, private: Refers to a person or a group of persons (other than foreign residents) who occupy a private dwelling and do not have a usual place of residence elsewhere in Canada.

Return to footnote 3 referrer

Footnote 4

Household type: Refers to the basic division of private households into family and non-family households. Family household refers to a household that contains at least one census family, that is, a married couple with or without children, or a couple living in common-law with or without children or a lone parent living with one or more children.

Return to footnote 4 referrer

Footnote 5

Couple-family households with children: Refers to couple households with at least one child aged 24 and under.

Return to footnote 5 referrer

Footnote 6

Couple-family households without children: Refers to couple households without children aged 24 and under. Includes couple households with all children aged 25 and over.

Return to footnote 6 referrer

Footnote 7

Lone-parent-family households: Refers to all lone-parent family households regardless of age of children.

Return to footnote 7 referrer

Footnote 8

Multiple-family households: Refers to a household in which two or more census families (with or without additional persons) occupy the same private dwelling.

Return to footnote 8 referrer

Footnote 9

Other households: Refers to two or more people who share a private dwelling, but who do not constitute a census family.

Return to footnote 9 referrer

Footnote 10

Other single-attached house: A single dwelling that is attached to another building and that does not fall into any of the other categories, such as a single dwelling attached to a non-residential structure (e.g., a store or a church) or occasionally to another residential structure (e.g., an apartment building).

Return to footnote 10 referrer

Footnote 11

Movable dwelling includes mobile homes and other movable dwellings such as houseboats and railroad cars.

Return to footnote 11 referrer

Footnote 12

Mother-tongue retention: Retention refers to the situation where people speak their mother tongue at home. Retention is defined as 'complete' when the mother tongue is the language spoken most often and 'partial' when it is spoken on a regular basis but not most often. The (complete or partial) retention rate refers to the proportion of the population with a given mother tongue that speaks that language at home most often or on a regular basis. The retention rate provides an indication of a group's linguistic vitality, particularly the importance of transmitting languages between generations.

Return to footnote 12 referrer

Source:

Statistics Canada. 2012. Focus on Geography Series, 2011 Census. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-310-XWE2011004. Ottawa, Ontario. Analytical products, 2011 Census. Last updated October 24, 2012.

Related data:

2011 Census Topic-based tabulations – Census agglomeration of Medicine Hat
2011 Census Highlight tables – Census agglomeration of Medicine Hat
2011 NHS Focus on Geography Series – Census agglomeration of Medicine Hat

Date modified:: 2019-03-27

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Focus on Geography Series, 2011 Census