Lethbridge - Demographics

Demographics

In its 2012 municipal census, the City of Lethbridge reported a population of 89,074, a 1.4% increase over its 2011 municipal census population of 87,882.

In the 2011 Census, the City of Lethbridge had a population of 83,517 living in 34,140 of its 37,396 total dwellings, an 11.8% change from its 2006 adjusted population of 74,685. With a land area of 122.36 km2 (47.24 sq mi), it had a population density of 682.55/km2 (1,767.80/sq mi) in 2011.

In 2006, the federal census reported a population of 74,637 in the city and 95,196 in its census agglomeration. In 2006, Lethbridge had a predominantly white population; one out of eight people were non-European, compared to one in ten in 2001. Of those, 40 percent were aboriginal, most of whom came from the nearby Peigan and Kainai nations. Of the remaining 60 percent, Japanese, Chinese and Latin American made up the largest portion at over 1,200, 920 and 705 respectively.

The most commonly observed faith in Lethbridge is Christianity. According to the 2001 federal census, 50,245 residents, representing 76 percent of respondents, indicated they were Christian. Just over 22 percent of Lethbridgians reported no religious affiliation, which was higher than the national average of 16 percent. The number of residents reporting other religions, including Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, Jews and Sikhs amounted to nearly 2 percent. For specific denominations, Statistics Canada reported 14,965 Roman Catholics who were well over 22 percent of the population, and 10,235 members of the United Church of Canada who were about 15 percent of the population. They counted 5,680 adherents of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints within Lethbridge (around 8.6 percent). Less numerous denominations included 3,605 Anglicans (more than 5 percent of the population), 3,025 Lutherans (more than 4 percent), and 2,155 Baptists (more than 3 percent).

According to the 2006 census, more than 85 percent of residents spoke English as a first language. More than 4 percent spoke German, well over 2 percent spoke Dutch and almost 1 percent each spoke French, Chinese, and Spanish as their first language. The next most commonly spoken languages were Hungarian, Polish, Ukrainian, Japanese, Italian, Persian, Blackfoot, and Tagalog.