Photo: Ham1ltoner1n · CC BY-SA 4.0Riverdale ranks above 94% of Canadian towns on one-person households: 45%
2.8% of residents have an Indigenous identity across Canada’s towns, against 6.9% in Riverdale. More residents who moved in within the year than in 90% of Canadian towns: 18%. The neighbourhood counted 5,490 residents and 2,890 households at the 2021 Census. The census found that 37% of households live in a single-detached house here.
What stands out about the people of Riverdale
Many people living alone
45% of households are one person living alone, more than in 94% of Canadian towns; 21% of residents are 65 or over. Households ↓
A neighbourhood of renters
Renters are 52% of households, more than in 87% of Canadian towns, and 51% of households live in an apartment. Homes ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Only 12% of residents are under 15 in Riverdale
The figures are the 2021 Census’s, except where another date is given. Every five-year age group as a share of residents; ticks mark the typical town.
Here nearly one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24, where the figure across Canada’s towns is 11%. Locally, just over a fifth of residents are 65 or over. The median age in Riverdale is 43.2, higher than in 57% of Canadian towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Riverdale, 43.2. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split.
1.9 people per household, fewer than in 94% of Canadian towns
Household types, then household sizes.
Against Alberta’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
Across Canada’s towns, couple families are 53% of households and one-parent families 8.2%; here, 40% and 6.4%.
Riverdale sits above 71% of Canadian towns for common-law partners (14%)
How adults live as couples, or don’t, with common-law unions shown on their own.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Never married and not common-law: 30% of adults (typical: 27%). Lower than in 72% of Canadian towns: 38% of residents 15 and over are married. For common-law partners, the comparison across Canada’s towns is 11%.
Riverdale sits above 87% of Canadian towns for renter households (52%)
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
Nearly a third of homes were built before 1961 and 27% in 2001 or later. Renter households make up 25% across Canada’s towns. Households in buildings of five or more storeys are more common here than in 79% of Canadian towns.
Households here have a median income of $83,000 a year
Census incomes are for 2020, the year before the census, when CERB and other pandemic benefits topped up many households. Household income before tax: the median, and households by income group.
Households by income · share of households
Half of Riverdale’s households had a total income above $83,000 and half below, close to the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Household incomes across Alberta’s towns have a median of $92,200. In 2020, 26% of income recipients drew a COVID-19 emergency or recovery benefit; the typical town had 28%.
14% 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
Immigrants here were most often born in Europe (39%), then in Asia (31%). Of the immigrants living here, 33% came between 2011 and 2021; across Canada’s towns the share is 27%.
Riverdale ranks above 90% of Canadian towns on residents with no religion: 53%
Visible minority and Indigenous identity, then religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Here, 13% of residents belong to a visible minority. Typically, 35% of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns.
In Riverdale, 13% of residents speak English and French, more than in 66% 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 91%, French 1.8%. 3.5% of residents have French as their mother tongue, a higher share than in 69% of Canadian towns. The usual figure: 7.5% of residents speak English and French across Canada’s towns.
Riverdale sits above 83% of Canadian towns for degree holders aged 25 to 64 (48%)
Highest certificate, diploma or degree of residents aged 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Holding no credential: 3.8% (typical 9.5%). Across Canada’s towns, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher.
In work on census day: 60% of adults
May 2021 was still a pandemic month: the census’s work figures reflect that. Four labour figures from the census. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
More people work here than in the typical town: 60%, against 58% across Canada’s towns.
Oldest by rank: 21st of 41 towns of 5,386 to 5,598 people
Towns of about this size, placed by median age.
Countryside is the youngest of them at 32; Inverness County, Subdivision A, at 56.4, the oldest. The closest ages to Riverdale’s belong to Hillview (42.7), Cookshire-Eaton (43.2), Woodlands (43.3) and Island Park-Wellington Village (43.4).
Of the 6 towns nearest Riverdale, 1 are older
The closest towns, coloured by how old their residents are.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riverdale | 5,490 | — | 43.2 | 21% | 14% |
| Boyle Street | 5,862 | 1.5 km | 40.7 | 19% | 35% |
| Bonnie Doon | 6,697 | 1.6 km | 40.5 | 20% | 16% |
| Holyrood | 3,305 | 1.7 km | 40.8 | 18% | 15% |
| Downtown | 12,880 | 1.8 km | 33.8 | 12% | 25% |
| Forest Heights | 4,118 | 1.8 km | 41.3 | 21% | 16% |
| McCauley | 4,060 | 2.1 km | 47.5 | 20% | 39% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Neighbourhoods are sums of small areas. The figures sum the neighbourhood’s dissemination areas, since the census is published for municipalities only. Medians are estimated from the age and income groups, counts carry Statistics Canada’s rounding, and no 2016 count matches these boundaries.
- What these tables don’t give. Not in the Census Profile: unpaid care, cars, internet access, and how each age group has changed since 2016. We also chart no ethnic origins besides visible minority and Indigenous identity.
- 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.
- 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.
Questions about Riverdale’s residents
What is the average age in Riverdale?
Half the residents are older than 43.2 and half younger, older than 57% of Canadian towns; 12% are children under 15 and 21% are 65 or over.
Is Riverdale bilingual?
English and French: 13% speak both (Canada’s towns: 7.5%). English only: 86%. French only: 0.5%. French mother tongue: 3.5%.
How diverse is Riverdale?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 17% are immigrants; here, 14%. A visible minority makes up 13% and Indigenous residents 6.9%.
What religion are people in Riverdale?
Most often Christian (41%) or no religion (53%); other religions make up 5.7%.
Is Riverdale good for families?
Children under 15 are 12% of residents, against 16% across Canada’s towns. Couple families make up 40% of households and one-parent families 6.4%. Schools near Riverdale are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Riverdale?
Median total household income in Riverdale was $83,000 in 2020, against a median of $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Riverdale?
The 2021 Census counted 5,490 people in Riverdale.
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).