Alberta has provincial legislation allowing its municipalities to conduct municipal censuses between April 1 and June 30 inclusive.[1][2] Municipalities choose to conduct their own censuses for multiple reasons such as to better inform municipal service planning and provision, to capitalize on per capita based grant funding from higher levels of government, or to simply update their populations since the last federal census.[3]
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 Distribution of Alberta's 269 urban municipalities | ||
Alberta began the year of 2017 with 354 municipalities.[4] Of these, 35 (9.9%) conducted a municipal census in 2017. Alberta Municipal Affairs recognized those conducted by 34 of these municipalities.[5] By municipal status, it recognized those conducted by 7 of Alberta's 18 cities, 16 of 107 towns, 10 of 87 villages, 1 of its 51 summer villages, and 1 of 64 municipal districts.[5][a]
Some municipalities achieved population milestones as a result of their 2017 censuses. Fort Saskatchewan exceeded 25,000 residents, while Chestermere surpassed 20,000 people and Crossfield grew beyond the 3,000 mark for the first time.
Municipal census results
The following summarizes the results of the numerous municipal censuses conducted in 2017.
| 2017 municipal census summary[5] | 2016 federal census comparison[6] | Previous municipal census comparison[7][8][9][10][11][12] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Municipality | Status | Census date | 2017 pop. | 2016 pop. | Absolute growth | Absolute change | Annual growth rate | Prev. pop. | Prev. census year | Absolute growth | Annual growth rate |
| Airdrie | City | April 1, 2017 | 64,922 | 61,581 | 3,341 | 5.4% | 5.4% | 61,842 | 2016 | 3,080 | 5.0% |
| Banff | Town | June 12, 2017 | 8,875 | 7,851 | 1,024 | 13% | 13.0% | 8,421 | 2014 | 454 | 1.8% |
| Beaumont | Town | April 15, 2017 | 18,320 | 17,396 | 924 | 5.3% | 5.3% | 17,720 | 2016 | 600 | 3.4% |
| Big Valley | Village | May 1, 2017 | 349 | 346 | 3 | 0.9% | 0.9% | 347 | 2015 | 2 | 0.3% |
| Blackfalds | Town | May 15, 2017 | 9,916 | 9,328 | 588 | 6.3% | 6.3% | 9,510 | 2016 | 406 | 4.3% |
| Bonnyville | Town | April 1, 2017 | 6,422 | 5,975[13] | 447 | 7.5% | 7.5% | 6,921 | 2014 | −499 | −2.5% |
| Bow Island | Town | April 1, 2017 | 2,043 | 1,983 | 60 | 3% | 3.0% | 1,868 | 2007 | 175 | 0.9% |
| Calgary | City | April 1, 2017 | 1,246,337 | 1,239,220 | 7,117 | 0.6% | 0.6% | 1,235,171 | 2016 | 11,166 | 0.9% |
| Carbon | Village | May 1, 2017 | 500 | 454 | 46 | 10.1% | 10.1% | 501 | 2000 | −1 | 0.0% |
| Carmangay | Village | May 19, 2017 | 250 | 242 | 8 | 3.3% | 3.3% | 262 | 2013 | −12 | −1.2% |
| Chestermere | City | May 1, 2017 | 20,331 | 19,887 | 444 | 2.2% | 2.2% | 19,715 | 2016 | 616 | 3.1% |
| Cochrane | Town | April 3, 2017 | 26,320 | 25,853 | 467 | 1.8% | 1.8% | 25,122 | 2016 | 1,198 | 4.8% |
| Crossfield | Town | May 8, 2017 | 3,055 | 2,983 | 72 | 2.4% | 2.4% | 2,918 | 2014 | 137 | 1.5% |
| Edgerton | Village | May 10, 2017 | 425 | 384 | 41 | 10.7% | 10.7% | 401 | 2012 | 24 | 1.2% |
| Empress | Village | 160[14] | 135 | 25 | 18.5% | 18.5% | 254 | 1983 | −94 | −1.4% | |
| Fort Saskatchewan | City | April 3, 2017 | 25,533 | 24,149 | 1,384 | 5.7% | 5.7% | 24,569 | 2016 | 964 | 3.9% |
| Girouxville | Village | May 1, 2017 | 289 | 219 | 70 | 32% | 32.0% | 315 | 1976 | −26 | −0.2% |
| High Level | Town | May 1, 2017 | 3,992 | 3,159 | 833 | 26.4% | 26.4% | 3,823 | 2015 | 169 | 2.2% |
| Horseshoe Bay | Summer village | May 1, 2017 | 73 | 49 | 24 | 49% | 49.0% | 46 | 2001 | 27 | 2.9% |
| Innisfree | Village | May 15, 2017 | 223 | 193 | 30 | 15.5% | 15.5% | 267 | 1977 | −44 | −0.4% |
| Leduc | City | April 1, 2017 | 31,130 | 29,993 | 1,137 | 3.8% | 3.8% | 30,498 | 2016 | 632 | 2.1% |
| Lethbridge | City | April 1, 2017 | 98,198 | 92,729 | 5,469 | 5.9% | 5.9% | 96,828 | 2016 | 1,370 | 1.4% |
| Magrath | Town | April 24, 2017 | 2,435 | 2,374 | 61 | 2.6% | 2.6% | 2,398 | 2015 | 37 | 0.8% |
| Marwayne | Village | May 15, 2017 | 606 | 564 | 42 | 7.4% | 7.4% | 667 | 2013 | −61 | −2.4% |
| McLennan | Town | May 1, 2017 | 791 | 701 | 90 | 12.8% | 12.8% | 957 | 1997 | −166 | −0.9% |
| Oyen | Town | June 5, 2017 | 1,022 | 1,001 | 21 | 2.1% | 2.1% | 1,006 | 2015 | 16 | 0.8% |
| Raymond | Town | April 10, 2017 | 4,037 | 3,708 | 329 | 8.9% | 8.9% | 4,202 | 2016 | −165 | −3.9% |
| Rosemary | Village | [b] | 396 | 421 | 2012 | ||||||
| Spruce Grove | City | April 5, 2017 | 34,881 | 34,066 | 815 | 2.4% | 2.4% | 33,640 | 2016 | 1,241 | 3.7% |
| St. Paul | Town | April 10, 2017 | 5,963 | 5,827 | 136 | 2.3% | 2.3% | 6,004 | 2014 | −41 | −0.2% |
| County of St. Paul No. 19 | Municipal district | April 18, 2017 | 6,468 | 6,036 | 432 | 7.2% | 7.2% | 6,168 | 2012 | 300 | 1.0% |
| Stirling | Village | June 1, 2017 | 1,269 | 978 | 291 | 29.8% | 29.8% | 1,147 | 2013 | 122 | 2.6% |
| Thorsby | Town | April 1, 2017 | 1,015 | 985 | 30 | 3% | 3.0% | 1,025 | 2015 | −10 | −0.5% |
| Two Hills | Town | May 15, 2017 | 1,443 | 1,352 | 91 | 6.7% | 6.7% | 1,431 | 2012 | 12 | 0.2% |
| Vermilion | Town | April 1, 2017 | 4,150 | 4,084 | 66 | 1.6% | 1.6% | 4,545 | 2012 | −395 | −1.8% |
| Veteran | Village | May 29, 2017 | 239 | 207 | 32 | 15.5% | 15.5% | 318 | 1982 | −79 | −0.8% |