NHS Focus on Geography Series – Medicine Hat

Demographic characteristics of Aboriginal people

In 2011, 4.8% (2,825) of the population of Medicine Hat had an Aboriginal identity.^{Aboriginal Peoples Footnote 1} Of those, 40.4% (1,140) reported a First Nations identity^{Aboriginal Peoples Footnote 2} only, 54.7% (1,545) reported a Métis identity only, and 0.5% (15) reported an Inuit identity only. An additional 60, or 2.1%, reported other Aboriginal identities and 60, or 2.1%, reported more than one Aboriginal identity.

Table 1 – Population by Aboriginal identity, Medicine Hat

In general, the Aboriginal population in Canada is younger than the non-Aboriginal population.

In Medicine Hat, Aboriginal children aged 14 and under represented 34.5% of the total Aboriginal population and 9.3% of all children in Medicine Hat. Non-Aboriginal children aged 14 and under accounted for 17.0% of the non-Aboriginal population.

The age distribution of First Nations people, Métis and Inuit is shown in table 2.

Table 2 – Age distribution by Aboriginal identity, Medicine Hat

Living arrangements of Aboriginal children

In Medicine Hat, 51.8% of Aboriginal children aged 14 and under lived in a family^{Aboriginal Peoples Footnote 3} with both their parents (biological or adoptive) and 39.0% lived in a lone-parent family.^{Aboriginal Peoples Footnote 4} Other Aboriginal children in that age group were stepchildren,^{Aboriginal Peoples Footnote 5} grandchildren living in a skip-generation family,^{Aboriginal Peoples Footnote 6} foster children^{Aboriginal Peoples Footnote 7} or children living with other relatives.

Living arrangements of First Nations, Métis and Inuit children aged 14 and under are illustrated in table 3.

Table 3 – Percentage distribution of the population aged 14 and under by living arrangement for selected Aboriginal identity categories, Medicine Hat

Language and Aboriginal peoples

In Medicine Hat, 205 Aboriginal people, or 7.3% of the population who had an Aboriginal identity, responded that they were able to conduct a conversation in an Aboriginal language. In 2011, the Aboriginal language most frequently reported by Aboriginal people was: Cree languages (185).

In 2011, 2.7% of the Aboriginal identity population reported an Aboriginal language as mother tongue, defined as the first language learned at home in childhood and still understood.

As well, 2.5% of Aboriginal people reported speaking an Aboriginal language at home: 0.0% spoke it most often while another 2.3% spoke it on a regular basis.

Linguistic characteristics of First Nations people, Métis and Inuit are shown in tables 4 to 6.

Table 4 – Number and proportion of Aboriginal identity population, First Nations people, Métis and Inuit for selected Aboriginal language indicators, Medicine Hat

In Medicine Hat, 95.4% of the Aboriginal identity population reported that they were able to conduct a conversation only in English or only in French. Additionally, 4.8% of Aboriginal people reported that they were able to conduct a conversation in both of Canada's official languages. The other 0.0%, or 0, reported that they were not able to conduct a conversation in either of these two languages.

Table 5 – Percentage distribution of the population by knowledge of official languages for selected Aboriginal identity categories, Medicine Hat

In Medicine Hat, among the 205 Aboriginal people who reported being able to conduct a conversation in an Aboriginal language, 36.6% reported that same language as their mother tongue. The other 61.0% reported a different language, such as English or French, as mother tongue, which suggests these individuals have acquired an Aboriginal language as a second language.

On the other hand, among the 75 Aboriginal people who reported an Aboriginal language as mother tongue, 0.0% could no longer conduct a conversation in this language, despite the fact that they still understand it.

Table 6 – Population who reported an ability to conduct a conversation in an Aboriginal language that is not their mother tongue and population who reported an Aboriginal mother tongue but who could not conduct a conversation in that language, for selected Aboriginal identity categories, Medicine Hat

Immigrant population

According to the 2011 National Household Survey (NHS), 4,330 (7.4%) of the population of Medicine Hat were foreign-born (immigrants), 53,675 (91.5%) were Canadian-born (non-immigrants) and 640 (1.1%) were non-permanent residents.^{Ethnocultural Footnote 1} In comparison, the proportion of the population of Alberta who were immigrants was 18.1%, 80.3% were non-immigrants, and 1.7% were non-permanent residents.

Figure 1 Percentage of Canadian born (non-immigrants), foreign born (immigrants) and non permanent residents in Medicine Hat (City)

Figure 1 Percentage of Canadian born (non-immigrants), foreign born (immigrants) and non permanent residents in Medicine Hat (City)

Of the immigrants living in Medicine Hat in 2011, 885 came to Canada between 2006 and 2011. These recent immigrants made up 20.4% of the immigrants in Medicine Hat.

The most common countries of birth of immigrants living in Medicine Hat were: United Kingdom (accounting for 22.2% of the immigrant population in Medicine Hat) and United States (8.9%). In comparison, the top countries of birth of immigrants living in Alberta were: Philippines (accounting for 10.8% of the immigrant population in Alberta), and India (9.2%).

In 2011, among Medicine Hat's immigrant population, 80.5% spoke English and/or French most often at home. Meanwhile, the three most frequently reported non-official languages spoken most often at home by immigrants in Medicine Hat were Spanish, Arabic and Chinese, n.o.s.. This compared to the top three non-official languages for immigrants in Alberta, which were Tagalog (Pilipino,Filipino), Panjabi (Punjabi) and Chinese, n.o.s..^{Ethnocultural Footnote 2}

Table 1 – Immigrants by non-official languages spoken most often at home, Medicine Hat (City), Alberta

Visible minority population and ethnic origins

The 2011 NHS estimated that 2,870 individuals in Medicine Hat belonged to a visible minority group, accounting for 4.9% of its total population.^{Ethnocultural Footnote 1} In comparison, visible minorities comprised 18.4% of Alberta's population.

The largest visible minority groups living in Medicine Hat were Black, South Asian and Chinese. In Alberta, the largest visible minority groups were South Asian and Chinese.

The three most frequently reported ethnic origins in Medicine Hat, for people reporting either one or multiple ethnic origins, were German, English and Canadian. This compared to the top three in Alberta, which were English, Canadian and German.

Table 2 – Most frequently reported ethnic origins, Medicine Hat (City), Alberta

Religion

According to the 2011 NHS, 69.8% of the population in Medicine Hat reported a religious affiliation, while 30.2% said they had no religious affiliation.^{Ethnocultural Footnote 1} For Alberta as a whole, 68.4% of the population reported a religious affiliation, while 31.6% had no religion.

The most frequently reported religious affiliation in Medicine Hat was Roman Catholic, reported by 14,350 (24.5%) of the population. Other frequently reported religions included: United Church (10.8%) and Lutheran (7.5%). In comparison, the top three most frequently reported religions in Alberta were: Roman Catholic (reported by 23.8% of the population of Alberta), United Church (7.5%) and Christian, n.i.e. (7.2%).

Table 3 – Most frequently reported religions, Medicine Hat (City), Alberta

Educational attainment ^{Education Footnote 1}

In 2011, 52.9% of the 40,670 adults aged 25 years and over in Medicine Hat had completed some form of postsecondary education, compared with 59.6% at the national level.

Of the population aged 25 years and over in Medicine Hat, 17.1% had a university certificate or degree. An additional 21.0% had a college diploma and 14.8% had a trades certificate.

The share of the adult population that had completed a high school diploma as their highest level of educational attainment was 26.9%, and 20.3% had completed neither high school nor any postsecondary certificates, diplomas or degrees.

Table 1 – Population aged 25 and over by highest level of educational attainment^{Education Footnote 1}, Medicine Hat (City), Alberta, Canada

Overall, successive generations of Canadians have been completing high school and attaining postsecondary qualifications in increasing proportions. In 2011, 41.7% of Canadians aged 65 years and over had a postsecondary credential; this compares with 69.5% among adults between the ages of 25 and 44. As well, 35.7% of those aged 65 years and over had not completed any certificate, diploma or degree compared with 9.5% of individuals aged 25 to 44.

In Medicine Hat, 36.5% of those aged 65 years and over had a postsecondary credential, compared to 60.3% of adults between 25 and 44 years of age; 38.9% of individuals aged 65 years and over had no certificate, diploma or degree, compared to 13.6% of 25 to 44 year-olds.

Medicine Hat (City) – Proportion of the population aged 25 years and over by level of educational attainment and age groups

Medicine Hat (City) – Proportion of the population aged 25 years and over by level of educational attainment and age groups

Major field of study

Table 2 – Most common fields of study^{Education Footnote 9} for the population aged 25 years and over with postsecondary qualifications, Medicine Hat (City), Alberta, Canada

Location of study^{Education Footnote 11}

In 2011, there were 21,505 residents of Medicine Hat aged 25 years and over with postsecondary credentials. Of these graduates, 66.9% had studied in Alberta, 24.4% had studied in another province or territory and 8.7% had studied outside Canada. Nationally, 72.5% of graduates had studied in the same province/territory in which they lived in 2011, 10.4% had studied in another province or territory and 17.1% had studied outside Canada.

In all provinces, individuals with trades or college certificates were more likely than those with university credentials to have earned their highest certificate, diploma or degree in the province in which they lived in 2011.

Table 3 – Population aged 25 years and over with postsecondary qualifications by location of study and by level of educational attainment, Medicine Hat (City)

Labour

In Medicine Hat, 30,335 people were employed and 2,380 were unemployed for a total labour force of 32,720 in May 2011. The employment rate was at 63.0% and the unemployment rate was at 7.3%.

Table 1 Total population aged 15 years and over by labour force status, Medicine Hat (City), Alberta

Within Medicine Hat, 15.6% of the employed labour force was aged 15 to 24 and 15.6% was aged 55 to 64. This compares to 14.3% and 14.3% respectively for Alberta.

Table 2 Employed labour force by age groups, Medicine Hat (City), Alberta

Within Medicine Hat, the top occupations were: Industrial, electrical and construction trades; Service support and other service occupations, n.e.c.; Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations. For Alberta as a whole the top occupations were: Industrial, electrical and construction trades; Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations; Service support and other service occupations, n.e.c..

Table 3 Top occupations for the employed labour force, Medicine Hat (City), Alberta

Within Medicine Hat, the top industries were: Health care and social assistance; Retail trade; Construction. For Alberta as a whole the top industries were: Retail trade; Health care and social assistance; Construction.

Table 4 Top industries for the employed labour force, Medicine Hat (City), Alberta

The number of self-employed in Medicine Hat amounted to 3,115 or 10.3% of all total employed workers.

Table 5 Employed labour force by class of workers, Medicine Hat (City), Alberta

In 2011, 2.4% of commuters within Medicine Hat used public transit to get to work. This compares to Alberta at 10.5%. 86.3% of the population used a car, truck or van as a driver, while 5.4% used a car, truck or van as a passenger. The average commuting time to work in Medicine Hat was 19.4 minutes, this compares to Alberta at 25.1 minutes.

Within Medicine Hat, 78.2% of the employed labour force aged 15 years and over worked at their usual place, 3.5% worked at home and 18.1% had no fixed workplace address.

Table 6 Employed labour force by mode of transportation, Medicine Hat (City), Alberta

Table 7 Average commuting duration for the employed labour force, Medicine Hat (City), Alberta

Table 8 Employed Labour force by time leaving for work, Medicine Hat (City), Alberta

Table 9 Employed labour force by place of work status, Medicine Hat (City), Alberta

In Medicine Hat, 99.5% (35,245) of the population aged 15 years and over who worked in 2010 or 2011 reported English only as the language used most often at work, 0.2% (60) reported French only and 0.0% (0) said they used both official languages (English and French) equally. In addition, 0.2% of the population aged 15 years and over who worked in 2010 or 2011 reported using an official language and a non-official language equally most often at work and 0.1% a non-official language only.

Furthermore, 0.1% (40) of the population aged 15 years and over who worked in 2010 or 2011 reported working in English on a regular basis, 0.4% (155) in French on a regular basis and 0.0% (0) in the country's two official languages on a regular basis. In addition, 0.0% (0) of of the population aged 15 years and over who worked in 2010 or 2011 reported using an official language and a non-official language on a regular basis at work and 0.6% (195) a non-official language only.

In Alberta, 98.5% (2,224,725) of the population aged 15 years and over who worked in 2010 or 2011 reported English only as the language used most often at work, 0.3% (6,355) reported French only and 0.1 (2,920) said they used both official languages (English and French) equally. Furthermore, 0.4% of the population aged 15 years and over who worked in 2010 or 2011 reported using an official language and a non-official language equally most often at work.

As for the language used at work on a regular basis in Alberta, the proportions are as follows: 0.5% (11,055) reported using English; 0.9% (20,110) use French; 0.0% (20) use both official languages; 0.1% (1,705) reported using an official language and a non-official language; and 1.9% (43,340) a non-official language only.

Table 10 Languages used at work, Medicine Hat (City), Alberta

In Medicine Hat, the non-official languages most used, most often or regularly, with or without an official language, are Spanish, Chinese languages and German, which account respectively for 0.2% (120), 0.1% (50) and 0.0% (25) of the population aged 15 years and over who worked in 2010 or 2011.

In Alberta, the non-official languages most used, most often or regularly, with or without an official language, are Chinese languages, Spanish and Tagalog (Pilipino,Filipino), which account respectively for 0.3% (15,175), 0.2% (8,525) and 0.2% (6,845) of the population aged 15 years and older who worked in 2010 or 2011.

Table 11 Non-official languages used at work, Medicine Hat (City), Alberta

Income composition

The total income for the population in private households can be broken down into two basic components: market income^{Income Footnote 1} and government transfers.^{Income Footnote 2} In Medicine Hat, 88.5% of total income was from market income in 2010 and 11.5% was from government transfers. (Aggregate total income for Medicine Hat was 1.9 billion dollars in 2010.)

Figure 1 Income composition for the population in private households in 2010

Income composition for the population in private households in 2010

Market income's main component was employment income. In Medicine Hat, it accounted for $85.00 of every $100 of market income, below the figure for Alberta of $87.70. For the two components of employment income, wages and salaries represented $82.20 and net income from self-employment, $2.80.

The other components of market income were smaller than employment income: in Medicine Hat, investment income represented $6.70 per $100 of market income, retirement income, $6.60 and $1.60 came from other private sources of money.

The main government transfer received in Medicine Hat was Canada Pension Plan or Quebec Pension Plan with $33.90 of every $100 of total government transfers received, followed by: Old Age Security (OAS) pension and Guaranteed Income Supplement ($26.40), Other income from government sources ($15.20), Employment Insurance benefits ($12.70), and Child benefits ($11.80).

Table 1 – Income composition for the population in private households in 2010, Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada

High total income

Among the Canadian population in private households aged 15 years and over, ten percent had total incomes of more than $80,400 in 2010. To be in the top five percent, Canadians needed to have a total income of slightly above $102,300 and to be in the top one percent required just over $191,100, nearly seven times the national median income of $27,800.^{Income Footnote 3}

In Medicine Hat, 6.0% percent of the population aged 15 years and over had total income that put them in the top five percent and 0.9% in the top one percent. This compared with 5.0% and 1.0% in Canada.

Table 2 – Population aged 15 years and over by total income, Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada

A national map showing the spatial distribution of persons with total income in the top five percent of persons with the highest total income is also available. Canada. Percentage of population in top five percent of total income in 2010 by 2011 census division (CD)

Employment income

Of those persons with employment income in Medicine Hat, 46.7% worked full year, full time^{Income Footnote 4} in 2010 compared to 51.9% in Alberta. The median employment income was $50,742 for these workers ($55,507 for those in Alberta).

The top four most common occupations for those working full-year full-time in 2010 in Medicine Hat were Industrial, electrical and construction trades; Maintenance and equipment operation trades; Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations; and Middle management occupations in retail and wholesale trade and customer services.

Table 3 – Median earnings of the most common full-year, full-time occupations in 2010, Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada

Family income

The median after-tax income of economic families in Medicine Hat in 2010 was $69,663, the median for couple families was $75,619 and for lone-parent families, $41,991. For persons not in economic families (persons living alone or with non relatives only), the median after-tax income was $25,619.

These compare to the medians in Alberta of $80,271 for after-tax family income of all economic families, $85,786 for couple families, $49,270 for lone-parent families and $32,451 for persons living alone or without relatives.

Table 4 – Median after-tax income in 2010 for economic families and persons not in economic families, Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada

Figure 2 Median after-tax income in 2010 for Medicine Hat, Alberta and Canada

Median after-tax income in 2010 for Medicine Hat, Alberta and Canada

Families came in different sizes and larger families may have benefited from pooling of resources and economies of scale. In Medicine Hat, based on their after-tax income adjusted for family size, 51.8% of the population was in the top half of the income distribution, below the rate of 60.1% in Alberta.

In Medicine Hat, the percentage of the population in the lowest income decile group^{Income Footnote 6} at 8.7% was similar to that in Alberta (8.4%). The percentage of the population in the highest decile group was 10.5%, lower than in Alberta (17.1%).

Table 5 – Population in private households by adjusted after-tax family income in 2010, Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada

Low income^{Income Footnote 7}

In the NHS, a relative measure is used to classify persons by income status: the low-income measure based on after-tax income (LIM-AT). For this measure, the income threshold is half the Canadian median of after-tax household income. The income has been adjusted to account for household size. Persons in households with a household income below this threshold^{Income Footnote 8} were considered to be in low income.

Based on the after-tax income low-income measure, the proportion of the population in low income in Medicine Hat was 13.1%, above the rate of 10.7% observed in Alberta. In Medicine Hat, compared to the population of all ages, for persons under 18, the rate was higher (16.8%) and for the population aged 65 years and over, it was lower at 9.2%.

Table 6 – Income status based on after-tax low-income measure (LIM-AT) in 2010, Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada

A map showing the proportion of the population in low income within Prairies Region is also available.

Housing

The number of households in Medicine Hat was 25,445. The homeownership rate^{Housing Footnote 1} in Medicine Hat was 74.4% - which was higher than the Alberta homeownership rate of 73.6%.

Table 1 – Housing tenure for all households, Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada

Medicine Hat – Affordability^{Housing Footnote 2}

Households in Medicine Hat that paid 30% or more of household total income toward shelter costs represented 22.8% of non-farm, non-reserve households with total income greater than zero. This proportion was lower than the Alberta proportion (23.7%).

A lower proportion of owner households paid 30% or more compared to tenant households in Medicine Hat (17.0% for owners versus 39.5% for renters).

Households in Medicine Hat paid an average monthly shelter cost of $933 – which was lower than the Alberta amount of $1,252. The average monthly shelter cost for tenant households was $829, this was lower than the average monthly shelter cost for owner households of $969.

Table 2 – Housing affordability for non-farm, non-reserve households, Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada

Medicine Hat – Need for major repairs^{Housing Footnote 3}

In Medicine Hat, 5.8% of households reported living in dwellings that required major repairs. This was lower than the Alberta proportion of 7.0%. The proportion of households reporting major repair requirements was lower for owners than renters (4.7% for owner-occupied dwellings and 9.0% for renter-occupied dwellings).

Table 3 – Need for major repairs by housing tenure, Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada

Medicine Hat – Suitability

In Medicine Hat, 2.5% of households lived in dwellings that were not suitable; that is, the dwelling was crowded because there were not enough bedrooms based on the National Occupancy Standard.^{Housing Footnote 4} This was lower than the Alberta proportion of 5.0%. The proportion of households living in dwellings that were not suitable was lower for owners than renters (1.7% for owner households and 4.6% for renter households).

Table 4 – Housing suitability by housing tenure, Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada

Related data

• 2011 NHS Profile – Medicine Hat, City (Census Subdivision), Alberta
• 2011 NHS Data Tables – Medicine Hat, City (Census Subdivision), Alberta
  • Aboriginal Peoples
  • Immigration and Ethnocultural Diversity
  • Education and Labour
  • Income and Housing
• 2011 Census Focus on Geography Series – Medicine Hat, City (Census Subdivision), Alberta