Photo: Wolfmum · CC BY-SA 4.0A median age of 32.4: Cold Lake is younger than 97% of Canadian towns
Of the immigrants living here, 53% came between 2011 and 2021; across Canada’s towns the share is 27%. For Cold Lake, the census puts residents who moved in within the year at 17%. On renter households, Cold Lake sits higher than 69% of Canadian towns: 36%. Some 17,798 people live here, by the estimate for July 2025.
What stands out about the people of Cold Lake
First Nations, Métis and Inuit residents
An Indigenous identity is reported by 15% of residents, more than in 94% of Canadian towns, and 7.2% are Registered or Treaty Indians. Identity & religion ↓
Younger than most towns
Line Cold Lake’s residents up by age and the one in the middle is 32.4; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 23% are under 15 and 8.1% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Cold Lake’s population changed by +5% since 2016, more than in 53% of Canadian towns
The figures are the 2021 Census’s, except where another date is given. Two census counts, five years apart, and Statistics Canada’s newest estimate.
Change, 2016 to 2021
The July 2025 estimate adds another 14%. For comparison, the median is +4% across Canada’s towns and +1% across Alberta’s towns.
Below 96% of Canadian towns: 8.1% of residents are 65 or over
Every five-year age group as a share of residents; ticks mark the typical town.
30–34 is the most common age band: just over one in ten residents, 1.7 times the share across Canada’s towns. More children under 15 than in 94% of Canadian towns: 23%. The wider picture: 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Cold Lake, 32.4. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 107 men for every 100 women.
Larger households than 58% of Canadian towns: 2.5 people on average
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.
Across Cold Lake, nearly one in ten households are one-parent families. Nothing unusual on one-person households: 27%, close to the figure across Canada’s towns.
15% of residents 15 and over live common-law, a share 76% of Canadian towns don’t reach
How adults live as couples, or don’t, with common-law unions shown on their own.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
29% of adults have never married and don’t live common-law (typical: 27%). Locally, 45% of residents 15 and over are married. Common-law partners make up 11% across Canada’s towns.
In Cold Lake, 66% of households live in a single-detached house, more than in 52% 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
Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in 74% of Canadian towns. Across Canada’s towns, 64% of households live in a single-detached house. 43% of homes were built in 2001 or later, more than the 9.7% built before 1961.
Households here have a median income of $105,000 a year
The income year is 2020: a year of pandemic benefits such as CERB, which the figures count. Household income before tax: the median, and households by income group.
Households by income · share of households
Cold Lake’s median household took in $105,000 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. COVID-19 benefits went to 26% of residents with an income (typical: 28%).
9.2% of residents are immigrants
Birthplaces and arrival years of immigrants, citizenship and recent moves.
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
The largest groups of immigrants were born in Asia (56%) and in Europe (24%). Fewer immigrants than in 66% of Canadian towns: 9.2%. Compared with 5.8% across Canada’s towns, 4.1% of residents are not Canadian citizens here.
Above 94% of Canadian towns: 15% of residents have an Indigenous identity
Identity and faith, in the census’s categories.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
10% of residents belong to a visible minority, against 15% across Canada’s towns. The wider picture: 2.8% of residents have an Indigenous identity across Canada’s towns. On the census count, 49% of residents said they have no religion.
4.9% of residents have French as their mother tongue, more than in 71% of Canadian towns
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 92%, French 2.4%. More bilingual residents than in nearly two thirds of Canadian towns: 12%. Typically, 1.5% of residents have French as their mother tongue across Canada’s towns.
Cold Lake ranks below 70% of Canadian towns on degree holders aged 25 to 64: 19%
Education of residents 25 to 64, by highest credential.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
No diploma or degree: 9.1% here, 9.5% in the typical town. The usual figure: 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
An employment rate of 68%
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%, below this 68%.
Among 41 towns of 17,303 to 18,296 people, the 3rd youngest
Towns of about this size, placed by median age.
The youngest of these towns is Schmidtville, at 29; the oldest, Edmundston, is at 54. In age, Cold Lake keeps company with Schmidtville (29), Bay-Cloverhill (29.6), Taradale (32.7) and Downtown Yonge East (33.4).
Around Cold Lake, 4 of 5 towns have a higher median age
Neighbouring places and their median ages; each name opens its page. Cold Lake has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 32–75 km out.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cold Lake | 17,798 | — | 32.4 | 8.1% | 9.2% |
| Bonnyville No. 87 | 13,265 | 31.6 km | 40 | 13% | 3% |
| Bonnyville | 7,366 | 39.0 km | 36 | 15% | 11% |
| Kehewin 123 | 1,064 | 55.6 km | 26.8 | 7.7% | 0% |
| Beaver River No. 622 | 1,442 | 61.4 km | 45.6 | 20% | 1.6% |
| Elk Point | 1,481 | 75.1 km | 41.2 | 19% | 12% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. Missing from the census as published: unpaid care, cars and internet access, and the shift in each age band since 2016. Ethnic origins past visible minority and Indigenous identity aren’t charted here.
- The census’s own words. “Visible minority” is the census’s term from the Employment Equity Act: people, other than Indigenous peoples, who are non-white in colour or race. Indigenous identity, immigrant status and religion are as residents answered. The page compares them with other towns and never labels a town by them.
Questions about Cold Lake’s residents
Is Cold Lake bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 12% are. Another 0.3% speak only French and 88% only English, and French is the first language of 4.9%.
How diverse is Cold Lake?
Immigrants make up 9.2% of residents, against 17% across Canada’s towns. 10% are members of a visible minority, and 15% are First Nations, Métis or Inuit.
What religion are people in Cold Lake?
Christian: 47%. No religion: 49%. Another religion: 3.8%.
Is Cold Lake good for families?
Across Canada’s towns, a typical 16% of residents are under 15; here, 23%. 54% of households are couple families and 8.7% one-parent families. Schools near Cold Lake are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Cold Lake?
$105,000 before tax, in 2020: the middle household’s income in Cold Lake (Canada’s towns: $86,000).
What is the population of Cold Lake?
Statistics Canada estimates 17,798 residents for July 2025; the 2021 Census counted 15,661 in Cold Lake, 5% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Cold Lake?
32.4 is the median age, younger than 97% of Canadian towns. Under 15: 23%. 65 and over: 8.1%.
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).