Photo: Unknown author Unknown author · Public domain16% of residents have an Indigenous identity, a share 94% of Canadian towns don’t reach
The figure for residents aged 65 and over is 26% in Cardston and 19% across Canada’s towns. Here, 85% of households live in a single-detached house. The median age in the town is 40.8, lower than in 58% of Canadian towns. The town had about 3,863 residents in July 2025, by Statistics Canada’s estimate, and 1,260 households at the 2021 Census.
What stands out about the people of Cardston
First Nations, Métis and Inuit residents
An Indigenous identity is reported by 16% of residents, more than in 94% of Canadian towns, and 14% are Registered or Treaty Indians. Identity & religion ↓
A town of families
Children under 15 are 23% of residents, more than in 95% of Canadian towns. Households average 2.8 people, and 8.7% are one-parent families. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Slower growth than 51% of Canadian towns: Cardston changed by +4% since 2016
Every figure here comes from the 2021 Census unless it carries another date. Two census counts, five years apart, and Statistics Canada’s newest estimate.
Change, 2016 to 2021
More children under 15 than 95% of Canadian towns: 23%
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
More residents are 10–14 than any other five-year age: 8.7% of residents, 1.5 times the share across Canada’s towns. As a reference point, 16% of residents are under 15 across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Cardston, 40.8. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Bigger households than 82% of Canadian towns: 2.8 people each on average
Who shares a home: household types and sizes.
Against Alberta’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
Across Canada’s towns, the share of one-person households is 27%; Cardston has 23%. The census found that 8.7% of households are one-parent families in the town.
Fewer common-law partners than 94% of Canadian towns: 4.2%
Marital status of residents 15 and over, with common-law couples counted apart.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Here 57% of residents 15 and over are married, where the figure across Canada’s towns is 46%. Common-law partners make up 11% across Canada’s towns.
A larger share of renter households than 51% of Canadian towns: 26%
Houses and apartments, owners and renters, older and newer homes. 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
29% of homes were built before 1961 and 19% in 2001 or later. Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in 74% of Canadian towns. For renter households, the comparison across Canada’s towns is 25%.
Median household income here: $77,000 a year
Incomes here are for 2020, the year before the census, CERB and other pandemic benefits included. What households took in before tax, at the middle and across income groups.
Households by income · share of households
Household incomes run lower in Cardston: half had less than $77,000, 10% under the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Alberta’s towns have a median of $92,200. 21% of income recipients received COVID-19 emergency or recovery benefits (typical: 28%).
Cardston: 14% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, above 74% of Canadian towns
Immigrants by continent of birth and when they arrived, citizenship, and who moved in recently.
Immigrants, by continent of birth · share of all residents; the bar runs to 30%
When immigrants arrived · share of immigrants
Citizenship and moving · share of residents
Set against 17% across Canada’s towns, 9.8% of residents are immigrants in Cardston. Across Canada’s towns, the share of residents who moved in within the year is 11%. Most immigrants were born in the Americas (41%) or in Asia (34%).
21% of residents said they have no religion, fewer than in 85% of Canadian towns
Residents’ own answers on visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Visible minority residents make up 6%, against 15% across Canada’s towns. Across Canada’s towns, residents with no religion come to 35%.
English is the mother tongue of 94%, and 2.8% speak French as well
English, French and the other languages people grew up with or speak at home.
Can hold a conversation in · share of all residents
Mother tongue · share of all residents
At 0.6%, the share of residents whose mother tongue is French is in line with the figure across Canada’s towns. Fewer bilingual residents than in 95% of Canadian towns: 2.8%.
In Cardston, 24% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, fewer than in 55% of Canadian towns
The highest diploma or degree of adults of working age (25 to 64).
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
No diploma or degree: 8.4% here, 9.5% in the typical town. Across the comparison, 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
The census was taken in May 2021, during the pandemic, so these rates show a labour market still recovering. The census’s work rates at a glance. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
51% of residents 15 and over have a job, against a typical 58% across Canada’s towns; 26% are 65 or more.
Among 41 towns of 3,787 to 3,944 people, the 17th youngest
Similar-sized towns by median age; each dot is a town.
Between Maple (30.9) and Georgian Bay (58.4) lies the rest of the group. Closest in median age to Cardston are Fairview (39.5), Eleanor (39.8), Guernsey (43) and Corkery (43.4).
Every neighbour of Cardston has a younger population
Places nearby, shaded by median age, each linked to its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cardston | 3,863 | — | 40.8 | 26% | 9.8% |
| Cardston County | 4,938 | 9.0 km | 36.4 | 19% | 7.7% |
| Blood 148 | 4,404 | 16.8 km | 31.2 | 12% | 0% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The census’s own words. The census takes “visible minority” from the Employment Equity Act: anyone other than Indigenous peoples who is non-white in colour or race. Indigenous identity, immigrant status and religion are what residents reported, compared here with other towns and never used as a label.
- Against Alberta’s towns and Canada’s towns. Each comparison is its own median: over Alberta’s towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, and over all Canadian towns of that size (whole cities and First Nations reserves left out). Percentiles are within Canada only.
- What these tables don’t give. For origins the charts stop at visible minority and Indigenous identity, and the Census Profile has nothing on unpaid care, cars or the internet, or on change by age since 2016.
Questions about Cardston’s residents
What is the population of Cardston?
Cardston had about 3,863 residents in July 2025, Statistics Canada estimates; the 2021 Census counted 3,724, 4% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Cardston?
A median age of 40.8, younger than 58% of Canadian towns. Children under 15 make up 23%, and people 65 and over 26%.
Is Cardston bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 2.8% are. Another 0.1% speak only French and 97% only English, and French is the first language of 0.6%.
How diverse is Cardston?
9.8% of residents are immigrants (Canada’s towns: 17%); 6% belong to a visible minority and 16% have an Indigenous identity.
What religion are people in Cardston?
76% are Christian and 21% have no religion; 3.1% follow another religion.
Is Cardston good for families?
Under 15: 23% (Canada’s towns: 16%). Couple families: 57% of households. One-parent families: 8.7%. Schools near Cardston are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Cardston?
The median household in Cardston took in $77,000 in 2020, against $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population · Statistics Canada, population estimates for 1 July 2025 (table 17-10-0155). 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).