Edmonton, Canada Population

The city of Edmonton is the capital of the province of Alberta in Canada. It is home to 1.4 million people in the urban area and over than 700 thousand people in the city. This makes it the second-largest city in Alberta and the fifth-largest municipality in Canada. Edmonton is North America’s northernmost metropolis and it anchors the north end of the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor. The city is a gateway for the large oil sands projects occurring in northern Alberta and the diamond operations happening in the Northwest Territories.

Incorporated as a town in 1892, Edmonton is divided into 375 neighborhoods within seven geographic sectors. The city area of Edmonton has a population density of 1,186 people per square kilometer, while the urban area’s population density drops dramatically to 123 people per square kilometer. The city’s population is expected to continue to steadily rise, reaching 1.7 million people by 2035.

A meteoric growth rate

Edmonton has experienced a dramatic growth rate that was facilitated by the absorption of five adjacent municipalities. These include Jasper Place, Strathcona, West and North Edmonton, and Beverly. A series of annexations through 2019 also added another 82.6 square kilometers from Leduc County and the City of Beaumont. This also increased the city’s population exponentially, as all these residents are now considered Edmontonians.

A city of mostly European ethnicity

While Edmonton does have multiple ethnicities, the largest portion is of European descent, which 55.8% identify as. The most frequently reported backgrounds include English, Scottish, German, Irish, Ukrainian, and Polish. There is also a strong East and Southeast Asian population (just over 15%) that call the city home.

In 2016, the census reported that 37% of the city’s population self-identified as a visible minority, with the largest groups identifying as South Asian, Chinese, Black, Filipino, and Arab.

Religion in Edmonton

Edmonton—like all places in Canada—permit the practice of any religion, and the city is home to a number of world religions. A large portion of the metropolitan population identifies as Christian, with just over 59%. There are also significant religious minorities that identify as Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist, Hindu, and Jewish. There is also a small percentage of the population that practice traditional Aboriginal spirituality. A large portion of the population (31%) self-identifies as having no religious affiliation. Within the Christian community, the major denominations include Roman Catholicism and the United Church.

Edmonton’s economy

Edmonton serves as one of the major economic centers for Alberta and a major center for the oil and gas industry. Out of the $57.8 billion dollars that major projects are valued at in the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, $34.4 billion of this is from the oil and gas industry. Called the Oil Capital of Canada, Edmonton is the core of Alberta’s petrochemical industries, which employs 6.1% of all working age people in the province. In 2013, there were 171,200 people working directly in the oil and gas industry.

The festival city

Edmonton is a city dedicated to the arts and hosts many festivals, including the Ice on White Festival, the Interstellar Rodeo of Folk and Rock music, the International Fringe Festival, and many more events throughout the year. This helps contribute to the 3.3 million overnight visitors that come to Edmonton annually, with a surprising amount of people coming from international locations to see the sights.

The West Edmonton Mall

The 10th largest mall in the world, the West Edmonton Mall covers 5.3 million square feet and employs 24,000 people. It hosts 32 million people per year, with 90,000 to 200,000 shoppers on a daily basis. It has over 800 stores, nine attractions, two hotels, and over 100 dining venues, with parking for more than 20,000 vehicles.