11% of households live in a building of five or more storeys, more than in 80% of Canadian towns
Visible minority residents: 38% here and 15% across Canada’s towns. Census day 2021: 8,617 residents and 3,475 households in Dalhousie. On the census count, 33% of residents are immigrants. Residents without Canadian citizenship are more common here than in 81% of Canadian towns.
A larger share of residents aged 15 to 24 than 78% of Canadian towns: 13%
Figures are from the 2021 Census unless dated otherwise. Every five-year age group as a share of residents; ticks mark the typical town.
More residents are 30–34 than any other five-year age: 7.3% of residents. The median age in Dalhousie is 39.9, lower than in 65% of Canadian towns. For comparison, 11% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across Canada’s towns. On children under 15, 16% here is much the same as across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Dalhousie, 39.9. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split.
Dalhousie sits above 64% of Canadian towns for one-parent families (9.2%)
Private households by type and size.
Against Alberta’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
Households average 2.5 people, against 2.4 across Canada’s towns. Shared houses stand out: 7.4% of households are unrelated adults living together, more than in 89% of Canadian towns. Against that, 8.2% of households are one-parent families across Canada’s towns. On the census count, 27% of households are one person living alone.
In Dalhousie, 6.6% of residents 15 and over live common-law, fewer than in 82% of Canadian towns
How adults live as couples, or don’t, with common-law unions shown on their own.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Where 46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns, Dalhousie has 49%. Across Canada’s towns, the share of common-law partners is 11%.
Renter households make up 36% in Dalhousie, more than in 69% of Canadian towns
The kinds of homes people live in, who owns and who rents, and how old the homes are. Prices, rents and shelter costs are on Cost of living.
Type of home
Owners and renters · share of households
When homes were built · share of homes
The share of households in single-detached houses is 54%, against 64% across Canada’s towns. Renter households: 25% across Canada’s towns, for comparison. Older homes outnumber new: 2.3% predate 1961, 0.9% date from 2001 or later.
The median household brings in $89,400 a year
Census incomes are for 2020, the year before the census, when CERB and other pandemic benefits topped up many households. Total household income: the median household, and the spread from low to high.
Households by income · share of households
At $89,400, the middle household in Dalhousie earned close to the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Within Alberta’s towns, the household in the middle had $92,200. Pandemic payments such as CERB reached 30% of income recipients here, against 28% in the typical town.
A larger share of residents who moved in within the year than 56% of Canadian towns: 12%
Birthplaces and arrival years of immigrants, citizenship and recent moves.
Immigrants, by continent of birth · share of all residents; the bar runs to 40%
When immigrants arrived · share of immigrants
Citizenship and moving · share of residents
Immigrants here were most often born in Asia (64%), then in Europe (21%). Across Canada’s towns, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier. Most recent wave: 38% of immigrants arrived in 2011–2021 (Canada’s towns: 27%).
Dalhousie sits above 74% of Canadian towns for residents with no religion (43%)
Visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion, as residents answered the census.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Other faiths: Muslim (4.8%) and Hindu (2.2%). The wider picture: 35% of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns. 2.8% of residents have an Indigenous identity, about the same as across Canada’s towns.
English is the mother tongue of 65%, and 7.3% speak French as well
Who can speak English and French, mother tongue, and the language spoken most at home.
Can hold a conversation in · share of all residents
Mother tongue · share of all residents
At home: English 76%, French 0.5%. 1.2% of residents have French as their mother tongue, fewer than in 62% of Canadian towns.
A higher share of degree holders aged 25 to 64 than 88% of Canadian towns, at 53%
From no certificate to a master’s: residents 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
No certificate, diploma or degree is held by 5.4%; in the typical town the share is 9.5%. Set beside that, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
A job for 50% of residents aged 15 and over
Counted in May 2021, during COVID-19, these rates catch the job market before it had recovered. Four labour figures from the census. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
Across Canada’s towns the typical rate is 58%, above this 50%; 20% of residents are 65 or over.
18th lowest median age among 41 towns of 8,439 to 8,794
Towns of about this size, placed by median age.
Median ages climb from 30.2 (Garneau) to 57.2 (Muskoka Lakes) across the group. By median age, Dalhousie sits among Prairie View (39.2), Craig Henry - Manordale (39.3), Heart Lake North (40.4) and Crestview (40.9).
Of the 6 towns nearest Dalhousie, 4 are older
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each links to its own page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dalhousie | 8,617 | — | 39.9 | 20% | 33% |
| Varsity | 12,605 | 1.9 km | 42.6 | 25% | 28% |
| Brentwood | 7,369 | 2.3 km | 35.8 | 16% | 24% |
| Ranchlands | 7,376 | 2.4 km | 38 | 14% | 26% |
| Hawkwood | 9,188 | 2.5 km | 47.1 | 21% | 35% |
| Silver Springs | 9,042 | 2.5 km | 45.2 | 22% | 18% |
| Edgemont | 15,359 | 2.6 km | 46.3 | 22% | 46% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Alberta’s towns and Canada’s towns. For each measure we take the median of Alberta’s towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, then the median of all Canadian towns. Neither counts whole cities or reserves, and every percentile is a Canadian one.
- Neighbourhoods are sums of small areas. There is no census profile for a neighbourhood, so we add up the dissemination areas inside it. Each count is a sum of Statistics Canada’s rounded counts, the median age and income come from the published groups, and with 2016’s areas drawn differently there is no 2016 count.
- What these tables don’t give. Unpaid care, car ownership and internet access aren’t in the Census Profile, nor is the change by age since 2016. Ethnic origins other than visible minority and Indigenous identity are left out of the charts.
- The census’s own words. In the census, “visible minority” is the Employment Equity Act’s term for people who are non-white in colour or race and not Indigenous. Like immigrant status, Indigenous identity and religion, which residents reported themselves, it is compared with other towns, never turned into a label.
Questions about Dalhousie’s residents
Is Dalhousie good for families?
Under 15: 16% (Canada’s towns: 16%). Couple families: 50% of households. One-parent families: 9.2%. Schools near Dalhousie are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Dalhousie?
The median household in Dalhousie took in $89,400 in 2020, against $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Dalhousie?
8,617, at the 2021 Census: Statistics Canada makes no later estimate for Dalhousie alone.
What is the average age in Dalhousie?
A median age of 39.9, younger than 65% of Canadian towns. Children under 15 make up 16%, and people 65 and over 20%.
Is Dalhousie bilingual?
Both official languages are spoken by 7.3% of residents, against a typical 7.5% across Canada’s towns. 90% speak only English and 0% only French; 1.2% grew up with French.
How diverse is Dalhousie?
33% of residents are immigrants (Canada’s towns: 17%); 38% belong to a visible minority and 2.8% have an Indigenous identity.
What religion are people in Dalhousie?
45% are Christian and 43% have no religion; 12% follow another religion.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population. Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).