Calgary's Downtown Population

[Surrealplaces]

I was posting some stuff in the SSP Canada section and thought I'd post it here too. Some population stats regarding our downtown always makes for interesting discussion. It could easily be in the stascan thread, but wanted to make the discussion more open to downtown Calgary's growth and direction it's going.

Calgary's downtown as defined by Statscan.

 

[Surrealplaces]

Here's some growth numbers from 2016 to 2021. Calgary's done quite well over that stretch and given the number of units that have come online in the last three years, the trend stays the same.

The interesting thing is from 2016 to 2021 Statscan shows a population increase of 8,119 people, but the Beltline added 9,394 residential units in that same time. Maybe due to timing of completions, mixed with the timing of Covid?

 

[Disraeli]

Here's some growth numbers from 2016 to 2021. Calgary's done quite well over that stretch and given the number of units that have come online in the last three years, the trend stays the same.

The interesting thing is from 2016 to 2021 Statscan shows a population increase of 8,119 people, but the Beltline added 9,394 residential units in that same time. Maybe due to timing of completions, mixed with the timing of Covid?

I think there were quite a few big projects with move ins just after the 2021 censu. Telus Sky, West Village and both of the Arris towers come to mind. 2021 was also during COVID where a chunk of the university age demographic moved back home so I wonder how that effected the numbers. I'm guessing around 55000 for 2026, maybe even as high as 60000. I still don't love how the boundaries for downtown are drawn up. It doesn't make sense to exclude Cliff Bungalow, Mission and Sunalta.

 

[Beltline_B]

When it comes to highrise residential the numbers of built units don't always equate to population growth until a couple of years after when the buildings are fully occupied. Also as mentioned by Disraeli, covid was during that time and would have thrown the numbers out of whack.
We'll get a much better idea from the 2026 census, and my prediction is the downtown hitting ~55,000. Impressive for a downtown area that was was less than half that 20 years ago.

 

[Surrealplaces]

In the SSP post, I predicted the 2026 census would be 60K for Calgary's downtown. Seems we're all thinking around the same number!

 

[Chinook Arch]

I was posting some stuff in the SSP Canada section and thought I'd post it here too. Some population stats regarding our downtown always makes for interesting discussion. It could easily be in the stascan thread, but wanted to make the discussion more open to downtown Calgary's growth and direction it's going.

Calgary's downtown as defined by Statscan.

View attachment 655885

It’s strange that the boundaries include part of Mission but not all and yet includes the Stampede grounds and Fort Calgary. Outside of that, the boundary tracks fairly well. Are there any stats from the 2011 census or earlier?

Seeing as we’re making predictions, I’ll throw in my prediction, I’m going with 58K.

 

[AJX]

I’ll go with 65k.

 

[Alex_YYC]

I’m late to the party, but I’ll give my prediction. By the time of the 2026 census, Calgary downtown, going by those boundaries shown in the first post, will be around 63K.
Although I wouldn’t be surprised if the downtown boundaries increased further into Mission with the addition of Mission Flats, Sola and 1901 College.

 

[UrbanWarrior]

I'm gonna be optimistic and go with 65k.

I always tell my tourists that its 70k, in the context of that it was less than half the population when I moved here 13 years ago. It always gets some ouuus and ahhhs

 

[Surrealplaces]

I'm confident it'll be just above 60K. From 2016 to 2021 when the economy and growth was slow, the area still saw 8K in growth, and the 5 year period 2021-2026 has seen a lot more activity.

Since 2021 the following buildings have been built, or will be finished by July 2026 and this will add approximately 7530 units. This would normally be approximately 10-12K people going by the average of 1.5 people per unit. I wouldn't be surprised to see that average number per unit higher on some of the new builds, also some buildings not listed - Telus Sky (326), Upten (379) - were completed around the time of the census and will likely factor more in this next census

Some up and coming buildings may make it into the next count. Yellowstone (205) and Sovereign (149) will be fairly close, but probably won't haves residents by the time of the census.

11th + 11th	369
West Village Towers	755
West 10th 1400	106
Nude	177
Redstone	137
Cube	66
Oliver	866
Park Central	993
AHC 6th	15
935 6th	74
Cornerstone	112
Place 800	204
Sierra 6th st	108
Dominion Centre	132
PetroFina	105
Barron	94
Taylor Building	85
The Hat Eau Claire	90
Eau Claire Place II	195
First & Park	211
Riverpark	52
Hannover	264
Hat @ 14th	239
Teck Place	113
Blvd Beltline	650
Broward	152
The Fifth	34
Arris I	242
Arris II	337
EV606	44
Palliser	176
Solo	40
Mission Flats	52
708 11th	102
	7530

 

[TysonR]

7500 units built in a 6 sq km brownfield area over a 5 year period is impressive for a city Calgary’s size. Cities like Hamilton, Winnipeg or Edmonton could only dream of that pace of downtown development.

 

[CalgaryTiger]

Edmonton could only dream of that pace of downtown development.

Things in Edmonton are weird, they're likely losing a riding in the inner-city for the next provincial election. I thought they were the golden child of missing middle but maybe not?

 

[Cowtown]

Edmonton has decent numbers for missing middle, but not very much in the defined downtown area.

 

[CalgaryTiger]

Edmonton has decent numbers for missing middle, but not very much in the defined downtown area.

That is true, it isn't as urban as our downtown and Beltline. And are they even doing conversions? The more of those finish up the more Calgary downtown population rises on top of new builds.

 

[Mountain Man]

I think there are some conversions on the books, not sure if anything has actually started yet though.