# 2021 Alberta municipal censuses

Alberta has provincial legislation allowing its municipalities to conduct municipal censuses. Municipalities choose to conduct their own censuses for multiple reasons such as to better inform municipal service planning and provision or to simply update their populations since the last federal census.
Alberta began the year of 2021 with 345 municipalities, which decreased to 343 with the dissolutions of Improvement District No. 349 on May 1 and the Village of Hythe on July 1. Of these, the only two municipalities to conduct a municipal census in 2021 were the Town of Blackfalds and the Regional Municipality (RM) of Wood Buffalo.

## Municipal census results

The following summarizes the results of the two municipal censuses conducted in 2021.
| 2021 municipal census summary | 2021 municipal census summary | 2021 municipal census summary | 2021 municipal census summary | 2016 federal census comparison | 2016 federal census comparison | 2016 federal census comparison | 2016 federal census comparison | Previous municipal census comparison | Previous municipal census comparison | Previous municipal census comparison | Previous municipal census comparison |
| Municipality | Status | Census date | 2021 pop. | 2016 pop. | Absolute growth | Absolute change | Annual growth rate | Prev. pop. | Prev. census year | Absolute growth | Annual growth rate |
| Blackfalds | Town | March 1, 2021 | 11,015 | 9,328 | 1,687 | 18.1% | 3.4% | 10,125 | 2018 | 890 | −2.8% |
| Wood BuffaloRM of Wood Buffalo | Specialized municipality | April 1, 2021 | 75,555 | 71,589 | 3,966 | 5.5% | 1.1% | 75,009 | 2018 | 546 | 0.2% |

## Breakdowns
### Urban and rural service areas

| 2021 municipal census summary | 2021 municipal census summary | 2018 municipal census comparison | 2018 municipal census comparison | 2018 municipal census comparison |
| Area | 2021 population | Previous population | Absolute growth | Annual growth rate |
| Fort McMurray urban service area | 72,917 | 72,056 | 861 | 0.4% |
| Rural service area | 2,638 | 2,953 | −315 | −3.7% |
| Total RM of Wood Buffalo | 75,555 | 75,009 | 546 | 0.2% |

### Hamlets

The following is a list of hamlet populations determined by the 2021 municipal census conducted by the RM of Wood Buffalo, excluding the Fort McMurray urban service area that is presented above.
| 2021 municipal census summary | 2021 municipal census summary | 2021 municipal census summary | Previous municipal census comparison | Previous municipal census comparison | Previous municipal census comparison | Previous municipal census comparison |
| Hamlet | Municipality | 2021 population | Previous population | Previous census year | Absolute growth | Annual growth rate |
| Anzac | Wood BuffaloRM of Wood Buffalo | 555 | 659 | 2018 | −104 | −5.6% |
| Conklin | Wood BuffaloRM of Wood Buffalo | 178 | 229 | 2018 | −51 | −8.1% |
| Fort Chipewyan | Wood BuffaloRM of Wood Buffalo | 847 | 918 | 2018 | −71 | −2.6% |
| Fort MacKay | Wood BuffaloRM of Wood Buffalo | 57 | 59 | 2018 | −2 | −1.1% |
| Gregoire Lake Estates | Wood BuffaloRM of Wood Buffalo | 217 | 204 | 2018 | 13 | 2.1% |
| Janvier | Wood BuffaloRM of Wood Buffalo | 77 | 141 | 2018 | −64 | −18.3% |
| Saprae Creek | Wood BuffaloRM of Wood Buffalo | 658 | 715 | 2018 | −57 | −2.7% |

## Shadow population

Alberta Municipal Affairs defines shadow population as "temporary residents of a municipality who are employed by an industrial or commercial establishment in the municipality for a minimum of 30 days within a municipal census year." The RM of Wood Buffalo conducted a shadow population count in 2021. The following presents the results of this count for comparison with its concurrent municipal census results.
| Municipality | Status | Municipal census population | Shadow population | Combined population |
| Wood BuffaloRM of Wood Buffalo | Specialized municipality | 75,555 | 30,504 | 106,059 |