Photo: John Wiley User:Jw4nvc - Santa Barbara, California · CC BY 3.0A higher share of Indigenous residents than 96% of Canadian towns, at 18%
Across Canada’s towns, the share of children under 15 is 16%; Fort Macleod has 19%. The 2021 Census found 1,340 households in the town; by July 2025 the population was about 3,945. In Fort Macleod, nearly a quarter of residents are 65 or over. Residents who moved in within the year are more common here than in four fifths of Canadian towns.
What stands out about the people of Fort Macleod
First Nations, Métis and Inuit residents
18% of residents identify as First Nations, Métis or Inuit, more than in 96% of Canadian towns; 14% are Registered or Treaty Indians. Identity & religion ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Faster growth than 85% of Canadian towns: Fort Macleod changed by +11% since 2016
Unless a figure says otherwise, it is from the 2021 Census. How the population moved between the last two censuses, and since.
Change, 2016 to 2021
For comparison, the median is +4% across Canada’s towns and +1% across Alberta’s towns. The July 2025 estimate adds another 20%.
12% of residents are aged 15 to 24, more than in 62% of Canadian towns
Age bands of five years, the town’s bars against the typical town’s ticks.
The largest age band is 60–64: 7% of residents. Across Canada’s towns, 11% of residents are aged 15 to 24. The median age in Fort Macleod is 42.4, higher than in 52% of Canadian towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Fort Macleod, 42.4. 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.
Above 66% of Canadian towns: 31% of households are one person living alone
Private households by type and size.
Against Alberta’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
In Fort Macleod the average household is 2.4 people, beside 2.4 across Canada’s towns. The usual figure: 27% of households are one person living alone across Canada’s towns. Across Fort Macleod, 8.6% of households are one-parent families.
Fort Macleod ranks below 66% of Canadian towns on common-law partners: 8.9%
Residents 15 and over by marital status; the census counts common-law couples separately.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Where 46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns, Fort Macleod has 49%. The comparison figure for common-law partners is 11% across Canada’s towns.
A larger share of households in single-detached houses than 68% of Canadian towns: 77%
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
With households in buildings of five or more storeys at 1.5%, Fort Macleod is ahead of 63% of Canadian towns on that count. The share of households in single-detached houses across Canada’s towns is 64%. Older homes outnumber new: 33% predate 1961, 20% date from 2001 or later.
The median household brings in $75,000 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
At $75,000, the middle household in Fort Macleod earned 13% less than the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Across Alberta’s towns, half of households had more than $92,200 before tax. Pandemic payments such as CERB reached 21% of income recipients here, against 28% in the typical town.
11% of residents are immigrants
Immigrants, newcomers and movers.
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
Against a figure of 17% across Canada’s towns, the share of immigrants in Fort Macleod comes in at 11%. The largest groups of immigrants were born in Asia (47%) and in Europe (38%).
Fort Macleod sits above 69% of Canadian towns for residents with no religion (41%)
Visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion, as residents answered the census.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Set against 15% across Canada’s towns, 6.6% of residents belong to a visible minority in Fort Macleod. The usual figure: just over a third of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns.
87% have English as their mother tongue; 1.6% 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
7.5% of residents speak English and French across Canada’s towns, against 1.6% in Fort Macleod. In Fort Macleod, 0.6% of residents have French as their mother tongue.
Below 97% of Canadian towns: 9.1% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher
From no certificate to a master’s: residents 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
At the bottom of the ladder, 20% hold no certificate of any kind, against 9.5% in the typical town. The wider picture: 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
52% of adults were employed in May 2021
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.
Fewer work here than in the typical town: 52%, against 58% across Canada’s towns. 23% of residents are 65 or over.
20th highest median age among 41 towns of 3,862 to 4,029
Median age of the Canadian towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
Okanagan Falls is the oldest at 59.2, Maple the youngest at 30.9. In age, Fort Macleod keeps company with Haddow (41), Watford (41.6), Templeton-Sinclair (42.9) and Cap-Santé (44).
Among its 5 nearest neighbours, 1 are older than Fort Macleod
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each links to its own page. No closer places have figures: these lie 27–36 km from Fort Macleod.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Macleod | 3,945 | — | 42.4 | 23% | 11% |
| Willow Creek No. 26 | 6,225 | 27.3 km | 41.6 | 21% | 7.9% |
| Nobleford | 1,694 | 30.3 km | 26.8 | 8.7% | 21% |
| Piikani 147 | 1,529 | 31.1 km | 32.4 | 10% | 0% |
| Coalhurst | 3,244 | 34.0 km | 32 | 11% | 6.4% |
| Claresholm | 4,242 | 36.3 km | 56.8 | 36% | 10% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Alberta’s towns and Canada’s towns. Provincial and national yardsticks: Alberta’s towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents, and all Canadian towns of that size. No whole city and no First Nations reserve is in either median.
- 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.
- 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 Fort Macleod’s residents
What is the average age in Fort Macleod?
42.4 is the median age, older than 52% of Canadian towns. Under 15: 19%. 65 and over: 23%.
Is Fort Macleod bilingual?
1.6% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 0% speak French only and 98% English only. French is the mother tongue of 0.6%.
How diverse is Fort Macleod?
Immigrants make up 11% of residents, against 17% across Canada’s towns. 6.6% are members of a visible minority, and 18% are First Nations, Métis or Inuit.
What religion are people in Fort Macleod?
Christian: 55%. No religion: 41%. Another religion: 3.5%.
Is Fort Macleod good for families?
Across Canada’s towns, a typical 16% of residents are under 15; here, 19%. 52% of households are couple families and 8.6% one-parent families. Schools near Fort Macleod are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Fort Macleod?
$75,000 before tax, in 2020: the middle household’s income in Fort Macleod (Canada’s towns: $86,000).
What is the population of Fort Macleod?
Statistics Canada estimates 3,945 residents for July 2025; the 2021 Census counted 3,297 in Fort Macleod, 11% more than 2016.
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).