Data from the 2021 census released by Statistics Canada on Wednesday morning contained details about age, gender at birth and gender and types of housing. This is the first time the census has asked a question that differentiated a person’s gender at birth and his or her gender. “It’s super, super exciting,” said Lindsay Peace, executive director of Skipping Stones, a Calgary-based organization that supports trans people. “It’s a really good first step in having some visibility right now.” Tangible numbers can be reported when putting pressure on resources such as doctors and surgeons, Peace added “It is difficult for trans people to advocate and fight,” Peace said. “It simply came to our notice then. [it] does not burden trans people “. The data show that among Alberts aged 15 and over, 99.63 percent are cisgender, meaning they identify with their gender at birth. Among the remaining one percent, 7,305 are trans Alberts – 3,420 trans men and 3,880 trans women. Another 5,170 Albertans are non-binary, meaning that they can be identified, for example, as gendered, queer or Two-Spirit. Alberta accounts for more than 12 percent of Canada’s trans and non-binary populations. Peace believes the figures are understated. There could be several reasons for this, such as safety, if a person is still out or parents who have not accepted their child’s move and misidentified it in the questionnaire, he said. “We know for a fact that there are so many more trans people than any of these data will ever show,” he said.
Alberta is getting older
The numbers show that Alberta is aging, with a huge increase in the number of people reaching retirement age, combined with fewer newborns and young adults. The average age of an Albertan is 39, which is 1.2 years older than it was in 2016, according to data. Jenny Godley, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Calgary, is not surprised. “Demographers have been predicting this for years only with our regular forecasts, because you have this generation of baby boomers who are almost all retired now,” Godley said. There are 629,220 Albertans aged 65 and over, representing about 14.8 percent of the population. The increase of about 129,000 in five years represents the highest increase of any demographic age in that period. Most of that – about 87 percent – is due to the large number of Alberts born in the middle of the baby boom who turned 65 after 2016. Statistics show a decrease in the number of babies born in Alberta, with the number of children aged four and under falling by 16,300. The number of Alberts aged five to 19 is higher than it was in 2016. There are also almost 48,600 fewer 20-somethings in Alberta and almost 10,000 fewer people in their first 30. Alberta, Godley said, is at a point where it needs to start looking at the proportion of old age dependence – the number of older people divided by the number of people of working age. The province had more children in proportion to the workforce than the elderly, mainly due to higher fertility and the many young professionals who immigrated to the province for work. This has led to more social support for this demographic, such as daycare or education, he explained. But as rising indicators continue to age, some resources may need to be shifted to care for the elderly, such as housing and health care needs, he said.
Population density is going in the “right direction”
The total number of occupied private homes – defined as living space with a private entrance that does not require one to go through another’s house – has increased by more than 118,500. This includes another 48,430 detached houses and 36,155 more apartments inhabited by Alberts. About two-thirds of these occupied apartments are located in buildings with less than five floors, the data show. This is in line with the total number of apartments, which show that seven out of 10 occupied apartments in Alberta are located in buildings with less than five floors. The data show many promising signs, said Sandeep Agrawal, a professor and principal in the School of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Alberta. “While they are still mostly single-family homes, the trend is in the right direction. Clearly, the density is increasing,” Agrawal said. The population density of the province is 6.7 people per square kilometer, from 6.4 in 2016, according to data. This is important because the spread – the rapid expansion of single-city cities leading to increased vehicle traffic – is environmentally unsustainable, he explained. The data also show that more people live in row houses and other forms of housing. Agrawal said this could eventually lead to more affordable housing options for more people.
