Photo: Stephen Glauser from Calgary, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0Half of Brighton is under 33.4, younger than 95% of Canadian towns
Against a figure of 25% across Canada’s towns, the share of renter households in Brighton comes in at 10%. At the 2021 Census, 7,238 people lived here, in 2,510 households. Census figures put residents aged 15 to 24 at 15% here. Higher than in 88% of Canadian towns: 17% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
What stands out about the people of Brighton
Younger than most towns
Brighton’s median age is 33.4; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 21% are under 15 and 7.2% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Brighton ranks below 97% of Canadian towns on residents aged 65 and over: 7.2%
Every figure here comes from the 2021 Census unless it carries another date. Age bands of five years, the town’s bars against the typical town’s ticks.
Children under 15 make up 21%, against 16% across Canada’s towns. Measured more widely, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Brighton, 33.4. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split.
A smaller share of one-person households than 91% of Canadian towns: 15%
Who shares a home: household types and sizes.
Against Saskatchewan’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
A household here has 2.9 people on average; across Canada’s towns, 2.4. Across Canada’s towns, the share of one-person households is 27%. 7.1% of households are one-parent families.
A larger share of married residents 15 and over than 88% of Canadian towns: 57%
Residents 15 and over by marital status; the census counts common-law couples separately.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Single and never married: 27% of adults, against a typical 27%. Typically, 46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns. The share of common-law partners stands at 9.3%.
A larger share of households in single-detached houses than 78% of Canadian towns: 83%
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
Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in nearly three quarters of Canadian towns. As a reference point, 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns.
The median household brings in $134,800 a year
Incomes here are for 2020, the year before the census, CERB and other pandemic benefits included. Total household income: the median household, and the spread from low to high.
Households by income · share of households
At $134,800, the middle household in Brighton out-earned the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000) by 57%. Saskatchewan’s towns have a median of $86,500. In 2020, 26% of income recipients drew a COVID-19 emergency or recovery benefit; the typical town had 28%.
Above 66% of Canadian towns: 9.5% of residents are not Canadian citizens
Immigrants, newcomers and movers.
Immigrants, by continent of birth · share of all residents; the bar runs to 25%
When immigrants arrived · share of immigrants
Citizenship and moving · share of residents
Recent arrivals are 50% of immigrants (2011 to 2021), beside 27% across Canada’s towns. For comparison, 5.8% of residents are not Canadian citizens across Canada’s towns. Immigrants here were most often born in Asia (68%), then in Europe (12%).
Brighton: 5.9% of residents have an Indigenous identity, above 74% of Canadian towns
Residents’ own answers on visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Across Canada’s towns, just over a third of residents said they have no religion; in Brighton, 41%. Census figures put visible minority residents at 24% here. For Indigenous residents, the comparison across Canada’s towns is 2.8%.
English is the mother tongue of 77%, and 7.2% 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
12% most often speak a language other than English or French at home, and 1.8% speak neither official language. Brighton has fewer residents whose mother tongue is French than 62% of Canadian towns, at 1.2%.
Brighton: 51% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, above 86% of Canadian towns
The highest diploma or degree of adults of working age (25 to 64).
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Across Canada’s towns, 27% of 25- to 64-year-olds hold a degree; in Brighton, 51%, and 27% have a college or trades credential (typical: 29%). Those with no credential make up 1.8%, next to 9.5% in the typical town.
An employment rate of 71%
Counted in May 2021, during COVID-19, these rates catch the job market before it had recovered. The census’s labour rates, in brief. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
Employment runs above the middle of Canada’s towns (58%), at 71%.
In its size band (7,113 to 7,366), the 2nd youngest of 41 towns
Median age of the Canadian towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
The span goes from 32.8 (Niverville) up to 61.6 (Fairwinds). Closest in median age to Brighton are Niverville (32.8), Slave Lake (34) and Peace River (35.6).
Among its 6 nearest neighbours, 5 are older than Brighton
Places nearby, shaded by median age, each linked to its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brighton | 7,238 | — | 33.4 | 7.2% | 20% |
| University Heights Urban Centre | 9,247 | 1.5 km | 36.8 | 17% | 19% |
| Willowgrove | 9,787 | 2.0 km | 35.5 | 7.8% | 23% |
| Lakewood | 14,880 | 2.6 km | 41.7 | 24% | 22% |
| Greystone Heights | 6,402 | 2.8 km | 35.7 | 16% | 28% |
| Hillcrest Management Area | 3,004 | 3.0 km | 46.8 | 19% | 22% |
| University | 5,888 | 3.0 km | 31.1 | 12% | 21% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What these tables don’t give. Unpaid care, car ownership and internet access aren’t in the Census Profile, nor is the change by age since 2016. Ethnic origins other than visible minority and Indigenous identity are left out of the charts.
- The census’s own words. In the census, “visible minority” is the Employment Equity Act’s term for people who are non-white in colour or race and not Indigenous. Like immigrant status, Indigenous identity and religion, which residents reported themselves, it is compared with other towns, never turned into a label.
- Against Saskatchewan’s towns and Canada’s towns. A figure here is set beside two middles, the median across Saskatchewan’s places of 2,500 people or more and the median across all Canadian towns that size; reserves and entire cities are excluded from both.
- 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.
Questions about Brighton’s residents
Is Brighton good for families?
Under 15: 21% (Canada’s towns: 16%). Couple families: 68% of households. One-parent families: 7.1%. Schools near Brighton are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Brighton?
The median household in Brighton took in $134,800 in 2020, against $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Brighton?
7,238, at the 2021 Census: Statistics Canada makes no later estimate for Brighton alone.
What is the average age in Brighton?
A median age of 33.4, younger than 95% of Canadian towns. Children under 15 make up 21%, and people 65 and over 7.2%.
Is Brighton bilingual?
Both official languages are spoken by 7.2% of residents, against a typical 7.5% across Canada’s towns. 91% speak only English and 0.1% only French; 1.2% grew up with French.
How diverse is Brighton?
20% of residents are immigrants (Canada’s towns: 17%); 24% belong to a visible minority and 5.9% have an Indigenous identity.
What religion are people in Brighton?
51% are Christian and 41% have no religion; 8.3% follow another religion.
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).