List of population centres in Alberta

A population centre, in Canadian census data, is a populated place, or a cluster of interrelated populated places, which meet the demographic characteristics of an urban area. A population centre has a population of at least 1,000 and a population density of no fewer than 400 people per square kilometre.^[1]

Population centres are not the same thing as urban municipalities. For example, the city of St. Albert is legally separate from Edmonton, but they are part of the same population centre.

The term was introduced in the Canada 2011 Census; prior to that, Statistics Canada used the term urban area.^[1]

As of the 2006 Census of Canada, the Province of Alberta had 107 urban areas^[2] with a cumulative population of 2,699,851 and an average population of 25,232. In the 2011 census, Statistics Canada listed 109 population centres in the province.^[3] This number increased to 122 in the Canada 2016 Census.

List

The below table is a list of those population centres in Alberta from the 2021 Census of Population as designated, named, and delineated by Statistics Canada.^[4]

More information Rank, Population centre ...

List of population centres in Alberta
Rank	Population centre^[4]	Size group^[4]	Population (2021)^[4]	Population (2016)^[4]	Change^[4]	Land area (km²)^[4]	Population density^[4]
1	Calgary	Large urban	1,305,550	1,240,413	+5.3%	621.72	2,099.9/km²
2	Edmonton	Large urban	1,151,635	1,070,998	+7.5%	627.2	1,836.2/km²
3	Red Deer	Medium	99,846	99,773	+0.1%	65.93	1,514.4/km²
4	Lethbridge	Medium	92,563	89,309	+3.6%	64	1,446.3/km²
5	Airdrie	Medium	73,578	61,082	+20.5%	33.03	2,227.6/km²
6	Fort McMurray	Medium	68,002	67,123	+1.3%	52.17	1,303.5/km²
7	Medicine Hat	Medium	63,382	63,111	+0.4%	53.2	1,191.4/km²
8	Grande Prairie	Medium	63,172	62,382	+1.3%	49.74	1,270.0/km²
9	Spruce Grove	Medium	39,348	36,279	+8.5%	29.76	1,322.2/km²
10	Leduc	Medium	33,505	29,561	+13.3%	67.43	496.9/km²
11	Cochrane	Medium	31,638	25,501	+24.1%	23.71	1,334.4/km²
12	Lloydminster	Medium	31,582	31,400	+0.6%	24.43	1,292.8/km²
13	Okotoks	Medium	30,214	28,833	+4.8%	17.23	1,753.6/km²
14	Fort Saskatchewan	Small	26,831	23,944	+12.1%	21.85	1,228.0/km²
15	Chestermere	Small	21,425	19,477	+10.0%	8.99	2,383.2/km²
16	Beaumont	Small	20,779	17,396	+19.4%	10.4	1,998.0/km²
17	Camrose	Small	18,454	18,520	−0.4%	17.1	1,079.2/km²
18	Stony Plain	Small	17,253	16,416	+5.1%	17.73	973.1/km²
19	Sylvan Lake	Small	16,142	14,977	+7.8%	10.49	1,538.8/km²
20	Brooks	Small	14,904	14,436	+3.2%	12.78	1,166.2/km²
21	High River	Small	14,119	13,420	+5.2%	10.13	1,393.8/km²
22	Strathmore	Small	13,851	13,592	+1.9%	9.46	1,464.2/km²
23	Canmore	Small	13,268	12,021	+10.4%	12.96	1,023.8/km²
24	Lacombe	Small	12,835	12,740	+0.7%	11.87	1,081.3/km²
25	Wetaskiwin	Small	12,438	12,491	−0.4%	12.11	1,027.1/km²
26	Morinville	Small	10,385	9,848	+5.5%	11.15	931.4/km²
27	Blackfalds	Small	10,315	9,161	+12.6%	8.93	1,155.1/km²
28	Whitecourt	Small	9,195	9,515	−3.4%	10.22	899.7/km²
29	Hinton	Small	9,191	9,205	−0.2%	12.97	708.6/km²
30	Olds	Small	8,983	8,944	+0.4%	9.51	944.6/km²
31	Taber	Small	8,978	8,558	+4.9%	15.69	572.2/km²
32	Coaldale	Small	8,592	8,153	+5.4%	5.84	1,471.2/km²
33	Banff	Small	8,305	7,851	+5.8%	4.08	2,035.5/km²
34	Edson	Small	8,166	8,148	+0.2%	10.7	763.2/km²
35	Grand Centre	Small	7,514	7,256	+3.6%	18.07	415.8/km²
36	Cold Lake	Small	7,201	6,795	+6.0%	5.71	1,261.1/km²
37	Ponoka	Small	7,032	6,899	+1.9%	5.61	1,253.5/km²
38	Innisfail	Small	7,016	6,937	+1.1%	5.23	1,341.5/km²
39	Drayton Valley	Small	6,970	6,867	+1.5%	7.22	965.4/km²
40	Devon	Small	6,545	6,578	−0.5%	14.26	459.0/km²
41	Slave Lake	Small	6,542	6,155	+6.3%	6.63	986.7/km²
42	Rocky Mountain House	Small	6,518	6,429	+1.4%	7.47	872.6/km²
43	Drumheller	Small	6,497	6,439	+0.9%	9.48	685.3/km²
44	Wainwright	Small	6,461	6,153	+5.0%	5.08	1,271.9/km²
45	Bonnyville	Small	6,359	5,858	+8.6%	6.4	993.6/km²
46	St. Paul	Small	5,685	5,728	−0.8%	5.03	1,130.2/km²
47	Stettler	Small	5,595	5,872	−4.7%	7.46	750.0/km²
48	Redcliff	Small	5,385	5,474	−1.6%	7.39	728.7/km²
49	Vegreville	Small	5,383	5,436	−1.0%	5.05	1,065.9/km²
50	Langdon	Small	5,193	5,060	+2.6%	4.32	1,202.1/km²
51	Didsbury	Small	5,024	5,206	−3.5%	5.43	925.2/km²
52	Westlock	Small	4,820	4,957	−2.8%	5.26	916.3/km²
53	Peace River	Small	4,264	4,348	−1.9%	5.06	842.7/km²
54	Barrhead	Small	4,055	4,387	−7.6%	4.73	857.3/km²
55	Jasper	Small	4,029	3,948	+2.1%	1.84	2,189.7/km²
56	Raymond	Small	3,942	3,553	+10.9%	3.92	1,005.6/km²
57	Carstairs	Small	3,660	3,080	+18.8%	4.76	768.9/km²
58	Crossfield	Small	3,579	2,973	+20.4%	3.99	897.0/km²
59	Vermilion	Small	3,552	3,697	−3.9%	3.66	970.5/km²
60	Cardston	Small	3,519	3,389	+3.8%	3.88	907.0/km²
61	Pincher Creek	Small	3,463	3,523	−1.7%	4.06	853.0/km²
62	High Level	Small	3,461	2,746	+26.0%	2.68	1,291.4/km²
63	Claresholm	Small	3,434	3,424	+0.3%	2.68	1,281.3/km²
64	Penhold	Small	3,359	3,210	+4.6%	1.65	2,035.8/km²
65	Fort Macleod	Small	3,038	2,718	+11.8%	2.28	1,332.5/km²
66	Grande Cache	Small	3,037	3,286	−7.6%	3.72	816.4/km²
67	Gibbons	Small	2,989	2,973	+0.5%	4.78	625.3/km²
68	La Crète	Small	2,911	2,739	+6.3%	3.02	963.9/km²
69	Three Hills	Small	2,902	3,078	−5.7%	3.14	924.2/km²
70	Coalhurst	Small	2,818	2,623	+7.4%	1.76	1,601.1/km²
71	Clairmont	Small	2,808	2,411	+16.5%	4.16	675.0/km²
72	Black Diamond	Small	2,574	2,552	+0.9%	2.15	1,197.2/km²
73	Grimshaw	Small	2,519	2,599	−3.1%	4.13	609.9/km²
74	Fairview	Small	2,427	2,598	−6.6%	2.26	1,073.9/km²
75	Turner Valley	Small	2,409	2,373	+1.5%	3.3	730.0/km²
76	Magrath	Small	2,308	2,235	+3.3%	2.7	854.8/km²
77	Sexsmith	Small	2,275	2,461	−7.6%	1.83	1,243.2/km²
78	Rimbey	Small	2,258	2,349	−3.9%	3.63	622.0/km²
79	Beaverlodge	Small	2,251	2,440	−7.7%	3.33	676.0/km²
80	Hanna	Small	2,234	2,332	−4.2%	2.29	975.5/km²
81	Lac la Biche	Small	2,138	2,294	−6.8%	2.94	727.2/km²
82	High Prairie	Small	2,065	2,264	−8.8%	2.37	871.3/km²
83	Westlake	Small	2,040	1,363	+49.7%	3.27	623.9/km²
84	Nanton	Small	1,984	1,970	+0.7%	1.56	1,271.8/km²
85	Heritage Pointe	Small	1,974	2,075	−4.9%	4.78	413.0/km²
86	Calmar	Small	1,883	1,986	−5.2%	1.33	1,415.8/km²
87	Millet	Small	1,847	1,905	−3.0%	2.18	847.2/km²
88	Provost	Small	1,834	1,945	−5.7%	2.09	877.5/km²
89	Bow Island	Small	1,829	1,773	+3.2%	1.3	1,406.9/km²
90	Tofield	Small	1,811	1,854	−2.3%	1.22	1,484.4/km²
91	Picture Butte	Small	1,808	1,700	+6.4%	1.95	927.2/km²
92	Redwater	Small	1,802	1,591	+13.3%	2.01	896.5/km²
93	Sundre	Small	1,781	1,866	−4.6%	2.37	751.5/km²
94	Vulcan	Small	1,558	1,680	−7.3%	1.7	916.5/km²
95	Springbrook	Small	1,534	1,502	+2.1%	2.19	700.5/km²
96	Blairmore	Small	1,522	1,545	−1.5%	2.04	746.1/km²
97	Bon Accord	Small	1,451	1,529	−5.1%	2.13	681.2/km²
98	Coleman	Small	1,441	1,475	−2.3%	1.99	724.1/km²
99	Nobleford	Small	1,438	1,278	+12.5%	0.98	1,467.3/km²
100	Wembley	Small	1,432	1,516	−5.5%	2.2	650.9/km²
101	Fox Creek	Small	1,426	1,730	−17.6%	1.36	1,048.5/km²
102	Elk Point	Small	1,394	1,437	−3.0%	2.26	616.8/km²
103	Two Hills	Small	1,379	1,291	+6.8%	1.25	1,103.2/km²
104	Lamont	Small	1,328	1,347	−1.4%	1.93	688.1/km²
105	Vauxhall	Small	1,286	1,222	+5.2%	2.71	474.5/km²
106	Valleyview	Small	1,280	1,421	−9.9%	1.55	825.8/km²
107	Bowden	Small	1,275	1,240	+2.8%	2.82	452.1/km²
108	Lancaster Park	Small	1,253	1,501	−16.5%	0.92	1,362.0/km²
109	Swan Hills	Small	1,191	1,275	−6.6%	2.39	498.3/km²
110	Bassano	Small	1,186	1,201	−1.2%	1.33	891.7/km²
111	Athabasca	Small	1,181	1,250	−5.5%	2.03	581.8/km²
112	Mayerthorpe	Small	1,171	1,205	−2.8%	1.29	907.8/km²
113	Legal	Small	1,164	1,251	−7.0%	1.79	650.3/km²
114	Irricana	Small	1,135	1,160	−2.2%	1.14	995.6/km²
115	Stirling	Small	1,134	938	+20.9%	2.03	558.6/km²
116	Alberta Beach - Val Quentin	Small	1,103	1,327	−16.9%	1.69	652.7/km²
117	Carriage Lane Estates	Small	1,094	1,008	+8.5%	1.34	816.4/km²
118	Cardiff	Small	1,033	1,167	−11.5%	0.98	1,054.1/km²
119	Manning	Small	1,027	1,072	−4.2%	1.37	749.6/km²

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Retired population centres

The following is a list of communities were once designated as population centres by Statistics Canada, but were retired after their populations dropped below 1,000 people. Some of them have since surpassed the minimum population threshold of 1,000 yet have not been reintroduced as population centres.

Smoky Lake (retired after 2016)
Spirit River (retired after 2016)

Retired urban areas

The following is a list of communities were once designated as urban areas by Statistics Canada, but were retired after their populations dropped below 1,000 people. Some of them have since surpassed the minimum population threshold of 1,000 yet have not been reintroduced as population centres.

Bellevue (retired after 1991 census)^[5]
Castor (retired after 1991)^[5]
Coronation (retired after 1991)^[5]
Lake Louise (retired after 2001 census)^[6]
McLennan (retired after 1986)^[7]

List of population centres in Alberta

List

Retired population centres

Retired urban areas

See also

References

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