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Focus on Geography Series, 2011 Census

Census agglomeration of Wood Buffalo, Alberta

Map of Wood Buffalo

Interactive version of map

Population, 2011 and 2006 censuses

Chart A description: Wood Buffalo, CA - Population, 2011 and 2006 censuses

Prov. rank

Nat. rank

In 2011, the population of Wood Buffalo census agglomeration (CA) was 66,896, representing a percentage change of 27.1% from 2006. This compares to the national growth of 5.9% and to the average growth among all CAs of 4.2%.

In Wood Buffalo, the land area is 63,782.95 square kilometres with a population density of 1.0 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 23,544 private dwellings occupied by usual residents in Wood Buffalo in 2011. The change in private dwellings occupied by usual residents from 2006 was 28.0%. 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 Wood Buffalo CA

Table 1 Wood Buffalo CA – Census subdivisions, population change, 2006 to 2011
Census subdivision (CSD) name	Type	Population
Census subdivision (CSD) name	Type	2011	2006	% change
Wood Buffalo	SM	65,565	51,496 E	27.3
Fort Mackay	S-É	562	521	7.9
Janvier 194	IRI	295	271	8.9
Gregoire Lake 176	IRI	274	81	238.3
Dog Head 218	IRI	111	91	22.0
Allison Bay 219	IRI	84	62	35.5
Chipewyan 201A	IRI	5	0	···
Old Fort 217	IRI	0	0	···
Thabacha Náre 196A	IRI	0	0	···
Charles Lake 225	IRI	0	0	···
Fort McKay 174	IRI	0	0	···
Namur River 174A	IRI	0	0	···
Namur Lake 174B	IRI	0	0	···
Gregoire Lake 176A	IRI	0	121	-100.0

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

Wood Buffalo – Age distribution

Chart C: Wood Buffalo - Population by broad age groups

Chart C description: Wood Buffalo - Population by broad age groups

Table 3 Wood Buffalo – Age distributions by broad age groups and sex, 2011 Census
Age groups	Both sexes	Males	Females
0 to 14	18.8%	18.0%	19.8%
15 to 64	79.3%	80.3%	78.2%
65 and over	1.9%	1.8%	2.0%

In 2011, the percentage of the population aged 65 and over in Wood Buffalo was 1.9%, compared with a national percentage of 14.8%. The percentage of the working age population (15 to 64) was 79.3% and the percentage of children aged 0 to 14 was 18.8%. 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.

Wood Buffalo – Population by broad age groups and sex

Table 4 Wood Buffalo – 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	66,895	52,645	14,250	27.1
0 to 14	12,565	10,635	1,930	18.1
15 to 64	53,070	40,980	12,090	29.5
65 and over	1,260	1,030	230	22.3
Males
Total	36,420	28,220	8,200	29.1
0 to 14	6,540	5,450	1,090	20.0
15 to 64	29,235	22,270	6,965	31.3
65 and over	640	500	140	28.0
Females
Total	30,480	24,425	6,055	24.8
0 to 14	6,025	5,185	840	16.2
15 to 64	23,840	18,710	5,130	27.4
65 and over	615	530	85	16.0

Wood Buffalo – Population by five-year age groups and sex

Chart D description: Wood Buffalo - Population by five-year age groups and sex

Table 5 Wood Buffalo – Population by five-year age groups and sex, 2011 Census
Age groups	Both sexes	Males	Females
Total - Age groups	66,895	36,420	30,480
0 to 4 years	5,265	2,705	2,555
5 to 9 years	3,760	1,985	1,780
10 to 14 years	3,540	1,850	1,690
15 to 19 years	4,020	2,100	1,920
20 to 24 years	6,185	3,235	2,945
25 to 29 years	8,105	4,360	3,745
30 to 34 years	6,920	3,700	3,220
35 to 39 years	5,740	3,290	2,455
40 to 44 years	5,495	3,020	2,475
45 to 49 years	5,660	3,130	2,525
50 to 54 years	5,610	3,155	2,455
55 to 59 years	3,625	2,220	1,400
60 to 64 years	1,710	1,020	690
65 to 69 years	660	375	280
70 to 74 years	285	145	140
75 to 79 years	180	70	110
80 to 84 years	80	30	50
85 to 89 years	35	10	25
90 to 94 years	15	5	10
95 to 99 years	5	0	5
100 years and over	0	0	0
Median age	31.7	32.5	30.8

Wood Buffalo – Median age¹ of the population

Chart E: Canada, Alberta and Wood Buffalo - Median age, 2006 and 2011 censuses

Chart E description: Canada, Alberta and Wood Buffalo - Median age, 2006 and 2011 censuses

The median age in Wood Buffalo was 31.7 years. In comparison, the median age of Alberta was 36.5 years.

Table 6 Canada, Alberta and Wood Buffalo – Median age, 2006 and 2011 censuses
	Median age
	2006	2011
Canada	39.5	40.6
Alberta	36.0	36.5
Wood Buffalo	31.6	31.7

Families and households

In 2011, the number of census families² in Wood Buffalo was 18,075, which represents a change of 24.8% from 2006. This compares to a growth rate for Canada of 5.5% over the same period.

In Wood Buffalo, 65.5% of census families were married couples in 2011, while 23.0% were common-law-couples and 11.6% were lone-parent families.

Chart F: Wood Buffalo - Census families by family structure

Chart F description: Wood Buffalo - Census families by family structure

Wood Buffalo – Family structure

Table 7 Canada, Alberta, Wood Buffalo – 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
Wood Buffalo	18,075	11,835	65.5	4,150	23.0	2,090	11.6	24.8

Wood Buffalo – Presence of children within couple families

Married couples		Common-law-couples
with children	without children	with children	without children
6,935 (43.4%)	4,895 (30.6%)	1,505 ( 9.4%)	2,640 (16.5%)

Chart G description: Wood Buffalo - Presence of children within couple families

Among couples (married and common-law) in the census agglomeration of Wood Buffalo, 52.9% 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 Wood Buffalo, 85.6% were intact families, that is, in which all children were the biological or adopted children of both parents, while 14.4% 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.

Wood Buffalo – Marital status

Chart H description: Wood Buffalo - Marital status

In Wood Buffalo, 62.0% of the total population aged 15 and over were either married (46.7%) or living with a common-law partner (15.4%).

The remaining 38.0% 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, Wood Buffalo – Population 15 years and older by marital status, 2011 Census
Marital status	Wood Buffalo		Alberta		Canada
Marital status	number	%	number	%	number	%
Total - Population 15 years and over	54,335	100.0	2,960,470	100.0	27,869,345	100.0
Married or living with a common-law partner	33,695	62.0	1,756,860	59.3	16,084,490	57.7
Married (and not separated)	25,355	46.7	1,484,705	50.2	12,941,965	46.4
Living common-law	8,345	15.4	272,155	9.2	3,142,525	11.3
Not married and not living with a common-law partner	20,635	38.0	1,203,615	40.7	11,784,855	42.3
Single (never legally married)	16,350	30.1	823,935	27.8	7,816,045	28.0
Separated	1,295	2.4	70,855	2.4	698,245	2.5
Divorced	2,385	4.4	177,375	6.0	1,686,035	6.0
Widowed	605	1.1	131,440	4.4	1,584,525	5.7

Wood Buffalo – Types of private households

There were 23,540 private households³ in Wood Buffalo in 2011, a change of 28.0% from 2006. Of these, 33.9% of households were comprised of couples with children aged 24 and under at home, a change of 15.6% compared with five years earlier.

Table 9 Canada, Alberta, Wood Buffalo – Distribution of households by household type, 2011 Census
Household type⁴	Wood Buffalo		Alberta		Canada
Household type⁴	number	%	number	%	number	%
Total - Private households	23,540	100.0	1,390,275	100.0	13,320,615	100.0
Couple-family households with children aged 24 and under at home⁵	7,980	33.9	407,145	29.3	3,524,915	26.5
Couple-family households without children aged 24 and under at home⁶	6,665	28.3	406,380	29.2	3,935,540	29.5
Lone-parent family households⁷	1,750	7.4	128,330	9.2	1,375,450	10.3
One-person households	4,125	17.5	342,735	24.7	3,673,310	27.6
Multiple-family households⁸	820	3.5	27,900	2.0	268,060	2.0
Other households⁹	2,200	9.3	77,785	5.6	543,340	4.1

Wood Buffalo – Structural type of dwelling

In Wood Buffalo, 48.9% of private households lived in single-detached houses and 2.4% lived in apartments in buildings that have five or more storeys. The rest lived in other types of dwelling structures.

Table 10 Canada, Alberta, Wood Buffalo – Distribution of private households by structural type of dwelling, 2011 Census
Structural type of dwelling	Wood Buffalo		Alberta		Canada
Structural type of dwelling	number	%	number	%	number	%
Total - Structural type of dwelling	23,545	100.0	1,390,275	100.0	13,320,615	100.0
Single-detached house	11,520	48.9	883,260	63.5	7,329,150	55.0
Semi-detached house	1,370	5.8	71,850	5.2	646,240	4.9
Row house	2,295	9.7	97,865	7.0	791,600	5.9
Apartment, building that has five or more storeys	555	2.4	58,205	4.2	1,234,770	9.3
Apartment, building that has fewer than five storeys	4,640	19.7	197,945	14.2	2,397,555	18.0
Apartment, duplex	330	1.4	33,505	2.4	704,485	5.3
Other single-attached house¹⁰	10	0.0	1,060	0.1	33,310	0.3
Movable dwelling¹¹	2,825	12.0	46,590	3.4	183,510	1.4

Language

Wood Buffalo – Mother tongue

Chart J description: Wood Buffalo - 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 Wood Buffalo, 79.4% of the population reported English only as mother tongue, 2.7% reported French only, and 16.0% 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, 86.9% of the population spoke only English most often at home, 1.3% spoke only French and 8.9% 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 Wood Buffalo – 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	66,850	100.0	66,845	100.0
English	53,050	79.4	58,120	86.9
French	1,795	2.7	880	1.3
Non-official language	10,690	16.0	5,920	8.9
Multiple responses	1,320	2.0	1,920	2.9

Table 12 Wood Buffalo – 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	99.6	99.1	0.5
French	67.4	45.4	22.0
Non-official language	82.4	59.0	23.4

Wood Buffalo – Non-official languages

In Wood Buffalo, the three most common mother tongues were Tagalog (Pilipino, Filipino) (2.4%), Urdu (1.4%) and Gujarati (1.4%), 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 Wood Buffalo – 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.
Tagalog (Pilipino, Filipino)	1,595	13.5	2.4
Urdu	945	8.0	1.4
Gujarati	935	7.9	1.4
Spanish	920	7.8	1.4
Arabic	890	7.5	1.3

Wood Buffalo – Bilingualism

Table 14 Wood Buffalo – 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	6.8	4.4	90.5	4.7
0 to 19	6.0	5.0	85.4	5.0
20 to 44	7.3	4.9	92.3	5.1
45 to 64	6.8	2.9	90.6	3.9
65 and over	5.8	3.2	80.0	2.7

Table 15 Wood Buffalo – Knowledge of official languages, 2011 Census
Knowledge of official languages	Number	Percentage
Total	66,845	100.0
English only	61,650	92.2
French only	105	0.2
English and French	4,715	7.1
Neither English nor French	385	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 Wood Buffalo
2011 Census Highlight tables – Census agglomeration of Wood Buffalo
2011 NHS Focus on Geography Series – Census agglomeration of Wood Buffalo

Date modified:: 2019-03-27

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Focus on Geography Series, 2011 Census