Photo: Qyd · CC BY 2.5Immigrants: 42%, a higher share than 87% of Canadian towns
52% of residents belong to a visible minority, against 15% across Canada’s towns. The 2021 Census counted 5,816 residents in 2,125 households. Locally, 78% of households live in a single-detached house. With a median age of 46.9, Sandstone Valley is older than 76% of Canadian towns.
What stands out about the people of Sandstone Valley
More immigrants than most towns
Immigrants make up 42% of residents; the medians are 25% across Alberta’s towns and 17% across Canada’s towns. Most immigrants were born in Asia (74%) or in Europe (12%), and 23% arrived from 2011 to 2021. Immigrants & newcomers ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Only 14% of residents are under 15 in Sandstone Valley
The figures are the 2021 Census’s, except where another date is given. Age bands of five years, the town’s bars against the typical town’s ticks.
60–64 is the most common age band: 11% of residents, 1.5 times the share across Canada’s towns. Across Canada’s towns, 16% of residents are under 15. In Sandstone Valley, just over a fifth of residents are 65 or over.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Sandstone Valley, 46.9. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split.
One-person households: 17%, a lower share than 85% of Canadian towns
Households by family type and by the number of people in them.
Against Alberta’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
Households average 2.7 people, against 2.4 across Canada’s towns. One-person households: 27% across Canada’s towns, for comparison. On the census count, 7.1% of households are one-parent families.
Only 5.4% of residents 15 and over live common-law in Sandstone Valley
Residents 15 and over by marital status; the census counts common-law couples separately.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
26% of adults are single and have never married; the typical town has 27%. As a reference point, 11% of residents 15 and over live common-law across Canada’s towns.
Below 69% of Canadian towns: 17% of households rent their home
Occupied homes by type, by owners and renters, and by when they were built. 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
Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in nearly three quarters of Canadian towns. Renter households: 25% across Canada’s towns, for comparison.
The midpoint household income is $104,800 a year
The income year is 2020: a year of pandemic benefits such as CERB, which the figures count. Income per household, before tax, with the groups it falls into.
Households by income · share of households
Sandstone Valley’s median household took in $104,800 before tax, 22% more than the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Household incomes across Alberta’s towns have a median of $92,200. Emergency and recovery benefits reached 30% of those with an income, beside a typical 28%.
A lower share of residents who moved in within the year than 72% of Canadian towns, at 9%
Immigrants, newcomers and movers.
Immigrants, by continent of birth · share of all residents; the bar runs to 50%
When immigrants arrived · share of immigrants
Citizenship and moving · share of residents
Most immigrants were born in Asia (74%) or in Europe (12%). By way of comparison, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns. Compared with other places, residents without Canadian citizenship are common here: 8.8%, more than in 63% of Canadian towns. At the same time, of the immigrants living here, 23% came between 2011 and 2021; across Canada’s towns the share is 27%.
Residents with no religion: 43%, a higher share than 74% of Canadian towns
Identity and faith, in the census’s categories.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Other faiths: Muslim (4.8%) and Buddhist (4.4%). To put it in context, 35% of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns. At 2.4%, the share of Indigenous residents is in line with the figure across Canada’s towns.
54% have English as their mother tongue; 4.7% also speak French
Knowledge of the two official languages, first languages, and the language of home.
Can hold a conversation in · share of all residents
Mother tongue · share of all residents
Across Canada’s towns, the share of bilingual residents is 7.5%; Sandstone Valley has 4.7%. 27% most often speak a language other than English or French at home, and 7.1% speak neither official language. The neighbourhood has fewer residents whose mother tongue is French than 77% of Canadian towns, at 0.9%.
Degree holders aged 25 to 64: 36%, a higher share than 66% of Canadian towns
Education of residents 25 to 64, by highest credential.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Some 13% have no certificate, diploma or degree, against a typical 9.5%. On average, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
Employment: 51% of residents 15 and over had a job
These rates date from May 2021, during the pandemic, and run lower than a normal year’s. The census’s labour rates, in brief. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
Across Canada’s towns the typical rate is 58%, above this 51%; 21% of residents are 65 or over.
11th highest median age among 41 towns of 5,706 to 5,931
Median age of the Canadian towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
Osoyoos is the oldest at 63.2, Electoral Area B, Peace River the youngest at 30.6. The towns whose median age is nearest to Sandstone Valley’s: River Bend (45.9), Dunrobin (46.4), East Ferris (48) and Spallumcheen (48).
Sandstone Valley is older than every town around it
Neighbouring places and their median ages; each name opens its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sandstone Valley | 5,816 | — | 46.9 | 21% | 42% |
| Macewan Glen | 4,718 | 1.1 km | 44.2 | 17% | 29% |
| Beddington Heights | 11,333 | 1.7 km | 39.5 | 15% | 33% |
| Hidden Valley | 10,614 | 1.9 km | 40.1 | 11% | 30% |
| Country Hills | 3,702 | 1.9 km | 41.4 | 16% | 41% |
| Panorama Hills | 25,494 | 2.6 km | 37.4 | 9.7% | 50% |
| Harvest Hills | 7,930 | 3.1 km | 42.4 | 14% | 36% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The census’s own words. These are self-reported answers: Indigenous identity, immigrant status, religion. The census’s “visible minority” comes from the Employment Equity Act (non-white in colour or race, Indigenous peoples aside), and the page sets each beside other towns without labelling any.
- Against Alberta’s towns and Canada’s towns. The middle of Alberta’s towns of 2,500 or more comes first, the middle of all Canadian towns second; cities as a whole and First Nations reserves stay out, and percentiles are within Canada.
- Neighbourhoods are sums of small areas. Built up from dissemination areas: Statistics Canada stops at the municipality. Rounded counts are added together and medians estimated from the published groups. The 2016 areas don’t line up with these, so the change since 2016 isn’t shown.
- What these tables don’t give. Some things the page can’t show: the Census Profile asks nothing about unpaid care, cars or internet access, and gives no change by age since 2016. Ethnic origins beyond visible minority and Indigenous identity aren’t charted.
Questions about Sandstone Valley’s residents
How diverse is Sandstone Valley?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 17% are immigrants; here, 42%. A visible minority makes up 52% and Indigenous residents 2.4%.
What religion are people in Sandstone Valley?
Most often Christian (45%) or no religion (43%); other religions make up 12%.
Is Sandstone Valley good for families?
Children under 15 are 14% of residents, against 16% across Canada’s towns. Couple families make up 60% of households and one-parent families 7.1%. Schools near Sandstone Valley are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Sandstone Valley?
Median total household income in Sandstone Valley was $104,800 in 2020, against a median of $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Sandstone Valley?
5,816, at the 2021 Census: Statistics Canada makes no later estimate for Sandstone Valley alone.
What is the average age in Sandstone Valley?
Half the residents are older than 46.9 and half younger, older than 76% of Canadian towns; 14% are children under 15 and 21% are 65 or over.
Is Sandstone Valley bilingual?
4.7% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 0% speak French only and 88% English only. French is the mother tongue of 0.9%.
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).