Photo: Kurayba · CC BY-SA 2.0A larger share of children under 15 than 81% of Canadian towns: 19%
Indigenous residents: 6.2%, above 76% of Canadian towns. By contrast, 7.9% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, a lower share than in 83% of Canadian towns. Brookside counted 3,173 residents and 1,215 households at the 2021 Census. The census found that 4.5% of households live in a building of five or more storeys in the neighbourhood.
What stands out about the people of Brookside
Many graduates
61% of residents aged 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, more than in 94% of Canadian towns; 16% have a master’s. Qualifications ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
A median age of 40.9: Brookside is younger than 57% of Canadian towns
The figures are the 2021 Census’s, except where another date is given. Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
The figure for residents aged 65 and over is 20% in Brookside and 19% across Canada’s towns. More residents aged 15 to 24 than in 70% of Canadian towns: 12%.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Brookside, 40.9. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split.
2.6 people per household, more than in 70% of Canadian towns
Household types, then household sizes.
Against Alberta’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
23% of households are one person living alone (Canada’s towns: 27%). On the census count, 7.4% of households are one-parent families.
6.3% of residents 15 and over live common-law, fewer than in 84% of Canadian towns
Marital status of residents 15 and over, with common-law couples counted apart.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Compared with 46% across Canada’s towns, 57% of residents 15 and over are married here. Across Canada’s towns, the share of common-law partners is 11%.
Households in single-detached houses: 75%, a higher share than 65% of Canadian towns
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
Where a quarter of households rent their home across Canada’s towns, Brookside has 29%. Across the comparison, 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns. 3.1% of homes were built in 2001 or later, more than the 1.9% built before 1961.
Median household income: $140,600 a year
Incomes are 2020’s, the census’s reference year, and include pandemic benefits such as CERB. What households took in before tax, at the middle and across income groups.
Households by income · share of households
The median across Canada’s towns is $86,000; Brookside’s, at $140,600, is 63% higher. The provincial yardstick is $92,200, the median across Alberta’s towns. In 2020, 24% of income recipients drew a COVID-19 emergency or recovery benefit; the typical town had 28%.
Brookside: 7.3% of residents are not Canadian citizens, above 57% 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
Recent arrivals are nearly a quarter of immigrants (2011 to 2021), beside 27% across Canada’s towns. Immigrants here were most often born in Asia (48%), then in Europe (18%). Residents without Canadian citizenship make up 5.8% across Canada’s towns.
In Brookside, 42% of residents said they have no religion, more than in 72% of Canadian towns
Visible minority and Indigenous identity, then religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
The share of visible minority residents is 20%, against 15% across Canada’s towns. Against that, 35% of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns. Other faiths: Muslim (2.5%).
Brookside ranks above 63% of Canadian towns on bilingual residents: 11%
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
6.9% most often speak a language other than English or French at home, and 0.5% speak neither official language. The benchmark for bilingual residents across Canada’s towns: 7.5%. Nothing unusual on residents whose mother tongue is French: 1.3%, close to the figure across Canada’s towns.
61% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, a share 94% of Canadian towns don’t reach
Highest certificate, diploma or degree of residents aged 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Holding no credential: 4.7% (typical 9.5%). Across Canada’s towns, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher.
57% of residents 15 and over were in work
Census day was in May 2021, mid-pandemic: some of these rates are lower than in a usual year. The census’s work rates at a glance. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
Employment here, 57%, matches the middle of Canada’s towns (58%) within a couple of points.
Ranked by age, 13th youngest of 41 towns this size
Similar-sized towns by median age; each dot is a town.
At one end is La Loche (25.6), at the other Valhalla (66). Erlton (40.3), New Maryland (40.8), Chalk River (42) and Westgate (42): the towns nearest Brookside in median age.
Nearby, 4 of 6 towns have older populations than Brookside
The closest towns, coloured by how old their residents are.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brookside | 3,173 | — | 40.9 | 20% | 15% |
| Ramsay Heights | 3,434 | 1.0 km | 42.6 | 21% | 29% |
| Bulyea Heights | 3,264 | 1.2 km | 47.2 | 23% | 34% |
| Westbrook Estates | 2,838 | 1.6 km | 43.2 | 21% | 22% |
| Royal Gardens | 3,392 | 2.2 km | 35.2 | 13% | 33% |
| Malmo Plains | 4,150 | 2.5 km | 40.8 | 21% | 27% |
| Rhatigan Ridge | 7,066 | 2.5 km | 50.9 | 28% | 32% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Alberta’s towns and Canada’s towns. Two medians frame each figure: one for Alberta’s towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, one for all Canadian towns of that size, with whole cities and First Nations reserves left out. Percentiles rank the town within Canada.
- 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. 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.
- 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 Brookside’s residents
What religion are people in Brookside?
42% said they have no religion and 51% that they are Christian; 6.5% named another faith.
Is Brookside good for families?
19% of residents are under 15 (Canada’s towns: 16%); couple families are 62% of households and one-parent families 7.4%. Schools near Brookside are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Brookside?
Half of Brookside’s households had more than $140,600 in 2020, before tax; across Canada’s towns the median was $86,000.
What is the population of Brookside?
Brookside had 3,173 residents at the 2021 Census.
What is the average age in Brookside?
The median age is 40.9, younger than 57% of Canadian towns. 19% are under 15 and 20% 65 or older.
Is Brookside bilingual?
English and French: 11% speak both (Canada’s towns: 7.5%). English only: 89%. French only: 0%. French mother tongue: 1.3%.
How diverse is Brookside?
Immigrants: 15% (Canada’s towns: 17%). Visible minority: 20%. Indigenous identity: 6.2%.
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).