Census

Census 2025 provides a complete snapshot of our growing and diverse population, providing data that will help shape programs, policies, and services across the Municipality in the years ahead.

Understanding the region's population

Census 2025 report

Census 2025 tells a story about Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo, a northern community moving forward with purpose, grounded in opportunity, a strong economy, and a place where families continue to build their lives.  

Download the report to discover more findings on the region's demographics.

Or, download a quick snapshot of Census 2025. You can also dive into the data by exploring the Census 2025 dashboard.

A report is spread out on a table.

Download the report

Explore the Census 2025 Dashboard

The Census 2025 dashboard lets you explore different census insights in an interactive way.

Clicking on any visual element will automatically update the other visuals on the page to reflect your selection. To refine the results further, hold down the Ctrl key and select additional visual elements.

Clicking on the same visual element or on a blank area of the page will clear your selections and reset the view.

Move between pages using the navigation arrows, or select the page number to view page names and jump directly to a specific section.

Please note that some interactive features are limited to protect privacy.

Page 1 of the dashboard gives a quick snapshot of the census, showing how many people live in different households and types of homes.

This page takes a closer look at families, where they live and the different types of homes found across our community.

Behind every number is a person. This page explores who makes up our community, including age, gender, ethnicity, and disability.

Pets are part of everyday life in our community. This page explores how many pets there are, the kinds of pets people keep, and where they live across different neighbourhoods.

This page looks at the places people call home—where they live, who owns the dwellings, and the types of homes found across our community.

Every move has a story. This page explores where people came from, how long they’ve lived here, and what led them to make this community home.

This page provides a comparison of population data from 2021 and 2025, highlighting differences by area, residency status, and population type.

 

Communities grow and change in different ways. This page explores population trends in urban and rural areas across 2018, 2021, and 2025.

Frequently Asked Questions

Census 2025 data showed that the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo has a total population of 107,740.

The census is a count of the people living in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo. We conduct a municipal census every few years to determine our total population size, as well as other characteristics of our population.

The purpose of Census 2025 was to better understand our region’s population by counting every person who was in the community on April 1, 2025. The data collected from the census will be used as part of the Municipality’s process in resource allocation for services like road and park maintenance and planning emergency response services.

Indigenous partners and stakeholders also utilize the collected census data for current and future decision-making. Numerous community factors have changed since Census 2021, and an updated population supports community planning with the current environment.

The federal census that takes place every five years doesn’t capture the shadow population (the population that mostly temporarily reside in work camps), which accounts for a significant part of Wood Buffalo’s population (22%, Census 2025). 

The shadow population refers to anyone who has a permanent home elsewhere but works in a commercial or industrial job in the region at least 30 days a year. These individuals are often found living in work camps, hotels and motels, campgrounds, rented rooms or suites in a private residence. Individuals who resided in non-permanent dwellings at the time of enumeration including the homeless population are also considered part of the shadow population.

It’s important we capture this demographic to understand the full snapshot of the population in our region. The total shadow population counted for Census 2025 is 23,752. This is a decrease of 22.13% from 30,504 people in 2021.

Census 2025 was conducted between April 1 to June 30, 2025.  April 1, 2025, was designated as the official census reference date. This date is the specific day used to count and record all population and dwelling information in the Municipality.

A combination of enumeration methods were used to ensure everyone in the Municipality was counted, covering the urban service area (Fort McMurray), rural communities, and collective dwellings. The census began with secure online and telephone options, giving people convenient ways to participate, followed by door-to-door enumeration to reach households that hadn’t yet responded and ensure a complete and accurate count of all residents during the census period.

An accurate census count helps us understand the needs of our community and plan for the future of our region. Based on census information, the Municipality is able responsibly allocate spending for key municipal services, maintenance and equipment, planning for disaster and emergency response services, libraries, affordable housing, long-term care facilities, parks, recreation and sports facilities, public transit, roadways and bridges, solid waste management and more. Census information helps develop indicators and growth projections useful to attract investors and developers.

Census information helps develop indicators and growth projections useful to attract investors and developers. It’s also used to develop neighbourhood profiles. 

Many social profits are funded based on the population they serve. They also use the data for operational and long-term planning for current or new services and programs.

Census information is used to assess existing growth and service targets as well as long-term requirements for capital development and operational planning. 

Contact Pulse and a customer service representative can connect you with a member of our census team. They'll be able to provide more detailed census data, like community profiles.

Submit a request online or by calling 780-743-7000 or toll-free 1-800-973-9663.

Archived census reports

Census 2021 Executive Summary

Census 2021 Report

For older archived reports, please contact Pulse.

Contact Us

PULSE
Submit a request

Phone: 780-743-7000
Toll free: 1-800-973-9663

Subscribe for RMWB updates

Stay up to date on the services, programs and projects in your neighbourhood! 

Subscribe