Demographics
Calgary is home to 240 different ethnic origins and has the third-largest visible minorities population in Canada. Learn more about Calgary's population, migration, languages and ethnic origins.
1.9%
Population growth in 2020
120 LANGUAGES
More than 120 languages are spoken in Calgary
54.0%
of people moving to Calgary came from international markets in 2020
Population
Calgary is a young city with the median age of Calgarians being 37.6 years.
(Population Estimates, Statistics Canada, 2020, Updated February 2021)
Migration to Calgary
The Province of Alberta has one of the highest levels of net migration in Canada. Learn about where new Calgarians are making the move from.
|
Census Metropolitan Area |
Migrants | Migrants per Capita |
Net Intraprovincial Migration |
Net Interprovincial Migration |
Net International Migration |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calgary | 19,899 | 12.9 | 2,176 | 1,931 | 15,792 |
| Edmonton | 17,701 | 12.1 | 4,138 | 516 | 13,047 |
| Vancouver | 23,717 | 8.7 | -12,189 | 4,381 | 36,935 |
| Ottawa | 19,590 | 13.4 |
3,190 | 3,684 | 12,716 |
| Toronto | 65,926 | 10.1 |
-24,880 | -3,175 | 49,729 |
| Montreal | 21,674 | 5.0 | -50,375 | 284 | 116,017 |
Source: Statistics Canada, as at July 1, 2020; Updated February 2021
TOP SOURCE COUNTRIES FOR PERMANENT RESIDENTS
| Source Country | # of Permanent Residents | Distribution (%) |
|---|---|---|
| All source countries | 10,650 | 100.0 |
| India | 2,375 | 22.3 |
| Philippines | 995 | 9.3 |
| Nigeria | 930 | 8.7 |
| People's Republic of China | 660 | 6.2 |
| Pakistan | 560 | 5.3 |
| Eritrea | 385 | 3.6 |
| United States of America | 375 | 3.5 |
| Republic of Korea | 270 | 2.5 |
| United Kingdom | 270 | 2.1 |
| Vietnam | 220 | 2.1 |
| Top 10 source countries | 6,990 | 65.6 |
| Other source countries | 3,660 | 34.4 |
Source: Calgary CMA, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, 2020
Languages
Calgarians are diverse - more than 120 first languages are spoken in the city. View statistics on the most common spoken languages in Calgary.
KNOWLEDGE OF THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGES
| Distribution (%) | ||
| Total population | 1,381,340 | 100.00 |
| English only | 1,249,525 | 90.5 |
| French only | 1,270 | 0.1 |
| Both English and French | 100,425 | 7.3 |
| Neither English nor French | 30,125 | 2.2 |
Source: Census 2016, Statistics Canada
LANGUAGE BY MOTHER TONGUE
| Distribution (%) | ||
| Total population | 1,381,345 | 100.0 |
| Single responses | 1,341,085 | 97.1 |
| English | 937,055 | 67.8 |
| French | 20,715 | 1.5 |
| Non-official languages | 383,320 | 27.7 |
| Tagalog (Pilipino; Filipino) | 40,960 | 3.0 |
| Punjabi (Punujabi) | 38,840 | 2.8 |
| Cantonese | 34,235 | 2.5 |
| Mandarin | 28,740 | 2.1 |
| Spanish | 28,685 | 2.1 |
| Arabic | 18,960 | 1.4 |
| Urdu | 16,925 | 1.2 |
| Vietnamese | 13,540 | 1.0 |
| German | 11,870 | 0.9 |
| Persian (Farsi) | 9,730 | 0.7 |
| Russian | 9,555 | 0.7 |
| Korean | 9,220 | 0.7 |
| Hindi | 7,390 | 0.5 |
| Italian | 5,430 | 0.4 |
| Romanian | 4,795 | 0.3 |
| Dutch | 4,040 | 0.3 |
| Aboriginal | 800 | 0.1 |
| Multiple responses | 40,255 | 2.9 |
| English and French | 3,600 | 0.3 |
| English and non-official language | 34,805 | 2.5 |
| French and non-official language | 1,060 | 0.1 |
| English, French and non-official language | 795 | 0.1 |
Source: Census 2016, Statistics Canada
Nationalities
Calgary is home to more than 240 different nationalities, and is ranked third in proportion of visible minorities in Canada. View population data by selected nationalities based on the Canadian National Household Survey information.
POPULATION BY SELECTED ETHNIC ORIGIN
| Select Ethnic Origin Group | Number | Distribution (%) |
| Total population | 1,374,650 | 100.0 |
| English | 298,865 | 21.7 |
| Canadian | 275,950 | 20.1 |
| Scottish | 240,775 | 17.5 |
| German | 201,650 | 14.7 |
| Irish | 197,190 | 14.3 |
| French | 118,085 | 8.6 |
| Chinese | 104,620 | 7.6 |
| Ukrainian | 90,740 | 6.6 |
| East Indian | 90,625 | 6.6 |
| Filipino | 75,020 | 5.5 |
| African | 58,390 | 4.2 |
| Polish | 55,705 | 4.1 |
| North American Aboriginal | 55,430 | 4.0 |
| Dutch | 53,975 | 3.9 |
| Italian | 42,940 | 3.1 |
| Norwegian | 42,000 | 3.1 |
| Russian | 37,955 | 2.8 |
| Welsh | 27,270 | 2.0 |
| Swedish | 26,815 | 2.0 |
| American | 23,680 | 1.7 |
| Spanish | 22,255 | 1.6 |
| Hungarian | 22,045 | 1.6 |
| Vietnamese | 21,010 | 1.5 |
| Danish | 18,720 | 1.4 |
| Pakistani | 18,495 | 1.3 |
| Austrian | 14,490 | 1.1 |
| Romanian | 13,590 | 1.0 |
| Korean | 11,615 | 0.8 |
| Portuguese | 8,600 | 0.6 |
| Mexican | 8,460 | 0.6 |
| Swiss | 8,055 | 0.6 |
| Japanese | 7,705 | 0.6 |
| Icelandic | 7,605 | 0.6 |
| Czech | 6,755 | 0.6 |
Note: Total ethnic origin responses are the sum of single and multiple responses for each ethnic origin. The sum of all ethnic origin responses is greater than the total population estimate due to the reporting of multiple origins.
Source: Census 2016, Statistics Canada
POPULATION BY VISIBLE MINORITY GROUP
| Visible Minority Group | Number | Distribution (%) |
| Total population Calgary CMA | 1,374,650 | 100.0 |
| Total visible minority population | 463,450 | 33.7 |
| South Asian | 122,900 | 8.9 |
| Chinese | 89,670 | 6.5 |
| Filipino | 70,660 | 5.1 |
| Black | 54,195 | 3.9 |
| Latin American | 27,710 | 2.0 |
| Arab | 26,320 | 1.9 |
| Southeast Asian | 23,235 | 1.7 |
| West Asian | 12,805 | 0.9 |
| Korean | 10,995 | 0.8 |
| Japanese | 5,570 | 0.4 |
| Visible minority, not included elsewhere | 4,610 | 0.3 |
| Multiple visible minority | 14,780 | 1.1 |
| Not a visible minority | 911,200 | 66.3 |
Source: Census 2016, Statistics Canada
