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Focus on Geography Series, 2011 Census

Census subdivision of Wood Buffalo, SM - Alberta ¹

Map of Wood Buffalo, SM

Interactive version of map

Population, 2011 and 2006 censuses

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

Prov. rank

Nat. rank

In 2011, Wood Buffalo (Specialized municipality) had a population of 65,565, representing a percentage change of 27.3% from 2006. This compares to the national average growth of 5.9%.

Land area is 63,637.47 square kilometres with a population density of 1.0 persons per square kilometre. This compares to the provincial land area of 640,081.87 square kilometres with a population density of 5.7 persons per square kilometre.

In 2011, Wood Buffalo (Specialized municipality) had 23,077 private dwellings occupied by usual residents. The change in private dwellings occupied by usual residents from 2006 was 28.3%. For Canada as a whole, the number of private dwellings occupied by usual residents increased 7.1%.

Wood Buffalo (Specialized municipality) is part of the census agglomeration of Wood Buffalo (Alberta).

Population and dwelling counts

Wood Buffalo (Specialized municipality) – Neighbouring census subdivisions

Table 1 Wood Buffalo (Specialized municipality) – Neighbouring census subdivisions, population change, 2006 to 2011
Census subdivision (CSD) name	CSD type	Population
Census subdivision (CSD) name	CSD type	2011	2006	% change
Division No. 18, Unorganized, Sask.	NO	1,641	1,181 A	39.0
Lac la Biche County, Alta.	MD	8,402	9,123 A	-7.9
Improvement District No. 24 Wood Buffalo, Alta.	ID	590	422	39.8
Janvier 194, Alta.	IRI	295	271	8.9
Gregoire Lake 176, Alta.	IRI	274	81	238.3
Gregoire Lake 176A, Alta.	IRI	0	121	-100.0
Chipewyan 201A, Alta.	IRI	5	0	···
Old Fort 217, Alta.	IRI	0	0	···
Allison Bay 219, Alta.	IRI	84	62	35.5
Dog Head 218, Alta.	IRI	111	91	22.0
Charles Lake 225, Alta.	IRI	0	0	···
Fort McKay 174, Alta.	IRI	0	0	···
Namur River 174A, Alta.	IRI	0	0	···
Namur Lake 174B, Alta.	IRI	0	0	···
Fort Mackay, Alta.	S-É	562	521	7.9
Thebathi 196, Alta.	IRI	30	15	100.0
Thabacha Náre 196A, Alta.	IRI	0	0	···
Opportunity No. 17, Alta.	MD	3,074	2,847	8.0
Mackenzie County, Alta.	SM	10,927	10,002	9.2
Fort Smith, N.W.T.	T	2,093	2,364	-11.5
Region 5, Unorganized, N.W.T.	NO	347	37 A	837.8

Alberta – Census subdivisions with 5,000-plus population with the highest population growth

Table 2 Alberta – Census subdivisions with 5,000-plus population with the highest population growth, population change, 2006 to 2011
Census subdivision (CSD) name	CSD type	Population
Census subdivision (CSD) name	CSD type	2011	2006	% change
Chestermere	T	14,824	9,923 A	49.4
Beaumont	T	13,284	8,961	48.2
Airdrie	CY	42,564	28,927	47.1
Leduc	CY	24,279	16,967	43.1
Okotoks	T	24,511	17,150 A	42.9

Alberta – Census subdivisions with 5,000-plus population with the lowest population growth

Table 3 Alberta – Census subdivisions with 5,000-plus population with the lowest population growth, population change, 2006 to 2011
Census subdivision (CSD) name	CSD type	Population
Census subdivision (CSD) name	CSD type	2011	2006	% change
Lac la Biche County	MD	8,402	9,123 A	-7.9
Willow Creek No. 26	MD	5,107	5,337	-4.3
Crowsnest Pass	SM	5,565	5,749	-3.2
Greenview No. 16	MD	5,299	5,464	-3.0
Lethbridge County	MD	10,061	10,254 A	-1.9

Age and sex

Wood Buffalo, SM – Age distribution

Chart C: Wood Buffalo, SM - Population by broad age groups

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

Table 4 Wood Buffalo, SM – Age distributions by broad age groups and sex, 2011 Census
Age groups	Both sexes	Males	Females
0 to 14	18.7%	17.8%	19.6%
15 to 64	79.6%	80.5%	78.4%
65 and over	1.8%	1.7%	1.9%

In 2011, the percentage of the population aged 65 and over in Wood Buffalo, SM was 1.8%, compared with a national percentage of 14.8%. The percentage of the working age population (15 to 64) was 79.6% and the percentage of children aged 0 to 14 was 18.7%. 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, SM – Population by broad age groups and sex

Table 5 Wood Buffalo, SM – Population by broad age groups, 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	65,565	51,495	14,070	27.3
0 to 14	12,230	10,340	1,890	18.3
15 to 64	52,160	40,220	11,940	29.7
65 and over	1,180	940	240	25.5
Males
Total	35,740	27,655	8,085	29.2
0 to 14	6,370	5,310	1,060	20.0
15 to 64	28,765	21,895	6,870	31.4
65 and over	600	450	150	33.3
Females
Total	29,830	23,840	5,990	25.1
0 to 14	5,850	5,025	825	16.4
15 to 64	23,390	18,320	5,070	27.7
65 and over	580	495	85	17.2

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

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

Table 6 Wood Buffalo, SM – Population by five-year age groups and sex, 2011 Census
Age groups	Both sexes	Males	Females
Total - Age groups	65,565	35,740	29,830
0 to 4 years	5,120	2,640	2,485
5 to 9 years	3,665	1,940	1,725
10 to 14 years	3,440	1,795	1,645
15 to 19 years	3,920	2,050	1,870
20 to 24 years	6,075	3,185	2,890
25 to 29 years	8,000	4,300	3,700
30 to 34 years	6,835	3,670	3,165
35 to 39 years	5,655	3,240	2,410
40 to 44 years	5,380	2,945	2,430
45 to 49 years	5,570	3,085	2,485
50 to 54 years	5,525	3,115	2,410
55 to 59 years	3,555	2,185	1,370
60 to 64 years	1,655	995	660
65 to 69 years	630	360	270
70 to 74 years	265	140	130
75 to 79 years	160	60	105
80 to 84 years	75	25	45
85 years and over	50	10	35
Median age	31.8	32.5	30.9

Wood Buffalo, SM – Median age² of the population

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

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

In 2011, the median age in Wood Buffalo, SM was 31.8 years. In comparison, the median age of Alberta was 36.5 years.

Table 7 Canada, Alberta and Wood Buffalo, SM – Median age, 2006 and 2011 censuses
	Median age
	2006	2011
Canada	39.5	40.6
Alberta	36.0	36.5
Wood Buffalo, SM	31.6	31.8

Families and households

In 2011, the number of census families³ in Wood Buffalo was 17,730, which represents a change of 25.0% from 2006. This compares to a growth rate for Canada of 5.5% over the same period.

In Wood Buffalo, 66.3% of census families were married couples in 2011, while 22.6% were common-law-couples and 11.1% 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 8 Canada, Alberta, CSD of Wood Buffalo, SM and neighbouring census subdivisions – 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, SM	17,730	11,755	66.3	4,010	22.6	1,965	11.1	25.0
Division No. 18, Unorganized, NO (Sask.)	480	295	61.5	70	14.6	120	25.0	35.2
Lac la Biche County, MD	2,360	1,650	69.9	335	14.2	375	15.9	-5.0
Janvier 194, IRI	75	15	20.0	30	40.0	25	33.3	15.4
Gregoire Lake 176, IRI	65	15	23.1	25	38.5	25	38.5	0.0
Allison Bay 219, IRI	20	5	25.0	10	50.0	5	25.0	0.0
Dog Head 218, IRI	35	10	28.6	10	28.6	15	42.9	0.0
Fort Mackay, S-É	140	30	21.4	60	42.9	55	39.3	-3.4
Opportunity No. 17, MD	830	350	42.2	265	31.9	210	25.3	12.9
Mackenzie County, SM	2,515	2,230	88.7	120	4.8	165	6.6	9.8
Fort Smith, T (N.W.T.)	565	300	53.1	150	26.5	115	20.4	-12.4
Region 5, Unorganized, NO (N.W.T.)	105	75	71.4	25	23.8	5	4.8	0.0

Wood Buffalo – Presence of children within couple families

Among couples (married and common-law) in the census subdivision of Wood Buffalo, 52.8% 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.

Presence of children within couple families
* Children aged 24 and under at home
Married couples with children *	6,895
Married couples without children *	4,865
Common-law-couples with children *	1,435
Common-law-couples without children *	2,580

Wood Buffalo – Marital status

Chart H description: Wood Buffalo - Marital status

In Wood Buffalo, 62.3% of the total population aged 15 and over were either married (47.2%) or living with a common-law partner (15.1%).

The remaining 37.7% 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 9 Canada, Alberta, Wood Buffalo, SM – Population 15 years and older by marital status, 2011 Census
Marital status	Wood Buffalo, SM		Alberta		Canada
Marital status	number	%	number	%	number	%
Total - Population 15 years and over	53,335	100.0	2,960,470	100.0	27,869,345	100.0
Married or living with a common-law partner	33,250	62.3	1,756,860	59.3	16,084,490	57.7
Married (and not separated)	25,190	47.2	1,484,705	50.2	12,941,965	46.4
Living common-law	8,060	15.1	272,155	9.2	3,142,525	11.3
Not married and not living with a common-law partner	20,090	37.7	1,203,615	40.7	11,784,855	42.3
Single (never legally married)	15,910	29.8	823,935	27.8	7,816,045	28.0
Separated	1,270	2.4	70,855	2.4	698,245	2.5
Divorced	2,355	4.4	177,375	6.0	1,686,035	6.0
Widowed	550	1.0	131,440	4.4	1,584,525	5.7

Wood Buffalo – Types of private households

There were 23,075 private households⁴ in Wood Buffalo in 2011, a change of 28.3% from 2006. Of these, 34.1% of households were comprised of couples with children aged 24 and under at home, a change of 16.0% compared with five years earlier.

Table 10 Canada, Alberta, Wood Buffalo, SM – Distribution of households by household type, 2011 Census
Household type⁵	Wood Buffalo, SM		Alberta		Canada
Household type⁵	number	%	number	%	number	%
Total private households	23,075	100.0	1,390,275	100.0	13,320,615	100.0
Couple-family households with children aged 24 and under at home⁶	7,875	34.1	407,145	29.3	3,524,915	26.5
Couple-family households without children aged 24 and under at home⁷	6,575	28.5	406,380	29.2	3,935,540	29.5
Lone-parent family households⁸	1,645	7.1	128,330	9.2	1,375,450	10.3
One-person households	4,010	17.4	342,735	24.7	3,673,310	27.6
Multiple family households⁹	800	3.5	27,900	2.0	268,060	2.0
Other households¹⁰	2,170	9.4	77,785	5.6	543,340	4.1

Wood Buffalo – Structural type of dwelling

In Wood Buffalo, 48.4% 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 11 Canada, Alberta, Wood Buffalo, SM – Distribution of private households by structural type of dwelling, 2011 Census
Structural type of dwelling	Wood Buffalo, SM		Alberta		Canada
Structural type of dwelling	number	%	number	%	number	%
Total - Structural type of dwelling	23,080	100.0	1,390,275	100.0	13,320,615	100.0
Single-detached house	11,165	48.4	883,260	63.5	7,329,150	55.0
Semi-detached house	1,340	5.8	71,850	5.2	646,240	4.9
Row house	2,270	9.8	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	20.1	197,945	14.2	2,397,555	18.0
Apartment, duplex	325	1.4	33,505	2.4	704,485	5.3
Other single-attached house¹¹	5	0.0	1,060	0.1	33,310	0.3
Movable dwelling¹²	2,775	12.0	46,590	3.4	183,510	1.4

Language

Wood Buffalo, SM – Mother tongue

Chart J description: Wood Buffalo, SM - 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, 79.6% of the population reported English only as mother tongue, 2.7% reported French only, and 15.6% reported a non-official language only, 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 8.8% spoke only a non-official language. In comparison, the provincial / territorial percentages were 85.7% for only English, 0.7% for only French and 10.5% for only a non-official language.

Table 12 Wood Buffalo, SM – 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	65,515	100.0	65,515	100.0
English	52,165	79.6	56,930	86.9
French	1,790	2.7	880	1.3
Non-official language	10,250	15.6	5,780	8.8
Multiple responses	1,315	2.0	1,925	2.9

Table 13 Wood Buffalo, SM – Mother-tongue retention, 2011 Census
Mother tongue	Mother-tongue retention¹³ (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	0.4
French	67.8	45.8	22.0
Non-official language	82.8	60.1	22.7

Wood Buffalo, SM – 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 14 Wood Buffalo, SM – 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	14.0	2.4
Urdu	950	8.4	1.4
Gujarati	935	8.2	1.4
Spanish	920	8.1	1.4
Arabic	890	7.8	1.4

Wood Buffalo, SM – Bilingualism

Table 15 Wood Buffalo, SM – 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	6.9	4.5	90.5	4.9
0 to 19	6.2	5.2	82.9	5.2
20 to 44	7.4	5.0	92.3	5.2
45 to 64	6.9	2.9	91.3	4.2
65 and over	6.2	2.6	88.9	1.7

Table 16 Wood Buffalo, SM – Knowledge of official languages, 2011 Census
Knowledge of official languages	Number	Percentage
Total	65,515	100.0
English only	60,330	92.1
French only	100	0.2
English and French	4,700	7.2
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

Wood Buffalo SM (Alberta) – This census subdivision has the following data quality indicators (commonly referred to as data quality flags):

In 2006, the population and/or dwelling counts for this census subdivision were found to be incorrect. Since it is not possible to make changes to the 2006 Census data presented in these tables, the 2006 data should be used with caution. For further details, please refer to the Population and dwelling count amendments, 2011 Census.

Return to footnote 1 referrer

Footnote 2

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 2 referrer

Footnote 3

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 3 referrer

Footnote 4

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 4 referrer

Footnote 5

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 5 referrer

Footnote 6

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

Return to footnote 6 referrer

Footnote 7

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 7 referrer

Footnote 8

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

Return to footnote 8 referrer

Footnote 9

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 9 referrer

Footnote 10

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

Return to footnote 10 referrer

Footnote 11

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 11 referrer

Footnote 12

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

Return to footnote 12 referrer

Footnote 13

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 13 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 subdivision of Wood Buffalo, Specialized municipality - Alberta
2011 Census Highlight tables – Census subdivision of Wood Buffalo, Specialized municipality - Alberta
2011 Census Data Navigator – Census subdivision of Wood Buffalo, Specialized municipality - Alberta
2011 NHS Focus on Geography Series – Census subdivision of Wood Buffalo, Specialized municipality - Alberta

Date modified:: 2019-03-27

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Focus on Geography Series, 2011 Census