Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainOlds sits above 75% of Canadian towns for residents aged 65 and over (24%)
48% of immigrants arrived between 2011 and 2021, against 27% across Canada’s towns. On Indigenous residents, Olds sits higher than nearly three quarters of Canadian towns: 5.7%. Statistics Canada puts the town’s population at 9,653 for July 2025. Here, 13% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
Slower than most: ±0% since 2016, behind 75% of Canadian towns
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
Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025 is 5% higher again. Across Canada’s towns, the typical town changed +4%; across Alberta’s towns, +1%.
A median age of 43.6: Olds is older than 59% of Canadian towns
Age bands of five years, the town’s bars against the typical town’s ticks.
The biggest five-year age group is 60–64, with 6.8% of residents. The share of children under 15 is 17%, against 16% across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Olds, 43.6. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Olds households average 2.3 people, smaller than in 64% of Canadian towns
Private households by type and size.
Against Alberta’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
29% of households are one person living alone (Canada’s towns: 27%). Across Olds, 7.6% of households are one-parent families.
In Olds, 8.1% of residents 15 and over live common-law, fewer than in 72% of Canadian towns
Residents 15 and over by marital status; the census counts common-law couples separately.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns, against 51% in Olds. For common-law partners, the comparison across Canada’s towns is 11%.
A larger share of renter households than 54% of Canadian towns: 28%
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
Newer homes outnumber old: 36% date from 2001 or later, 9.1% from before 1961. The comparison figure for renter households is 25% across Canada’s towns. Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in nearly three quarters of Canadian towns. Set against 64% across Canada’s towns, just over three in five households live in a single-detached house in Olds.
The middle household earns $82,000 a year
Incomes here are for 2020, the year before the census, CERB and other pandemic benefits included. Income per household, before tax, with the groups it falls into.
Households by income · share of households
The middle household in Olds had $82,000 before tax, near the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). For Alberta’s towns, the median household income is $92,200. Pandemic payments such as CERB reached 25% 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
The largest groups of immigrants were born in Asia (52%) and in Europe (29%). Immigrants are rarer here than in 63% of Canadian towns. Add to that, the figure for residents without Canadian citizenship is 4.8% in Olds and 5.8% across Canada’s towns.
41% of residents said they have no religion, a share 67% of Canadian towns don’t reach
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, 9.1% of residents belong to a visible minority in Olds. The share of residents with no religion across Canada’s towns is 35%.
English is the mother tongue of 89%, and 3.5% speak French as well
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
0.9% of residents have French as their mother tongue, about the same as across Canada’s towns. Lower than in 91% of Canadian towns: 3.5% of residents speak English and French.
Fewer degree holders aged 25 to 64 than 65% of Canadian towns: 21%
From no certificate to a master’s: residents 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
With no certificate, diploma or degree: 12%, beside a typical 9.5%. By way of comparison, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
58% of residents 15 and over were in work
The census was taken in May 2021, during the pandemic, so these rates show a labour market still recovering. The census’s labour rates, in brief. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
The employment rate of 58% is close to the typical 58% across Canada’s towns.
In its size band (9,439 to 9,852), the 15th oldest of 41 towns
Median age of the Canadian towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
The span goes from 31.8 (Oromocto) up to 67.5 (Qualicum Beach). Nearest to Olds in age: Shawnessy (42.5), Glastonbury (42.5), Mineola (44.4) and Laurentian Valley (45.6).
A younger town than 2 of the 3 around it: Olds
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each links to its own page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olds | 9,653 | — | 43.6 | 24% | 11% |
| Didsbury | 5,185 | 15.1 km | 45.2 | 24% | 7.9% |
| Bowden | 1,315 | 16.4 km | 42.4 | 19% | 4.3% |
| Mountain View County | 14,802 | 18.0 km | 46.4 | 20% | 6.4% |
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. 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.
- 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 Olds’s residents
Is Olds good for families?
Across Canada’s towns, a typical 16% of residents are under 15; here, 17%. 53% of households are couple families and 7.6% one-parent families. Schools near Olds are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Olds?
$82,000 before tax, in 2020: the middle household’s income in Olds (Canada’s towns: $86,000).
What is the population of Olds?
Statistics Canada estimates 9,653 residents for July 2025; the 2021 Census counted 9,209 in Olds, about the same as 2016.
What is the average age in Olds?
43.6 is the median age, older than 59% of Canadian towns. Under 15: 17%. 65 and over: 24%.
Is Olds bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 3.5% are. Another 0% speak only French and 96% only English, and French is the first language of 0.9%.
How diverse is Olds?
Immigrants make up 11% of residents, against 17% across Canada’s towns. 9.1% are members of a visible minority, and 5.7% are First Nations, Métis or Inuit.
What religion are people in Olds?
Christian: 57%. No religion: 41%. Another religion: 2.5%.
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).