The 2025 Municipal Census will take place April 1-June 30, 2025.
The purpose of Census 2025 is to better understand the region’s population by counting every person who is in the community on April 1, 2025. The data collected from the Census is 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, industry and social profit sectors also use 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.
Census data provides important details of the Region’s demographics and statistics such as population changes, distribution, ethnicity and includes a count of the shadow population.
Please note:
All information collected is kept confidential and used only to produce anonymous statistics.
Apply here for census enumerator positions
Please go to rmwb.ca/employment to apply for work with the RMWB.
Census Prizing
Early bird prize: Deadline extended to May 23, 2025!!
Win BIG by having your say in the RMWB Census
Your count matters, and now it could take you places!
Complete the RMWB Census and you could win a YMM Prize Package consisting of:
- $1,500 airline gift card with one of YMM’s valued airline partners
- One week of FREE parking at YMM
- $100 YMM Earls gift card
- YMM swag for two
Sponsored in part by Fort McMurray Airport Authority
Bi-weekly prizes
|
Prize Area |
Number of Prizes |
Prizes |
|
Urban |
60 |
$100 grocery/gas gift card (10 prizes per draw) |
|
Rural |
54 |
$100 grocery/gas gift card (9 prizes per draw/ one per rural community) Includes: Fort Fitzgerald, Fort Chipewyan, Fort McKay, Draper, Saprae Creek, GLE, Anzac, Janvier, and Conklin. |
Census 2025 Events
Enumerator Information Sessions – Learn more about becoming a census taker. Census taking is a temporary (April to June), paid employment opportunity. If you have any questions about becoming a census taker, please email census.2025@rmwb.ca or contact Pulse (780-743-7000). The job posting will be available here later in March. Please check back.
| Date | Event | Location | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 12, 2025 | Enumeration Station | MacDonald Island Park | 5 p.m.-9 p.m. |
Frequently asked questions
| What is the total population of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo? |
| Census 2021 data showed the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo has a total population of 106, 059. |
| What is a municipal census? |
| 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. |
| What is the purpose of the census? |
|
The purpose of Census 2025 is to better understand our region’s population by counting every person who is in the community on April 1, 2025. The data collected from the Census is 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. |
|
How is the Municipal Census different from the Federal Census? |
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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, (26%). |
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What is the shadow population? |
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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 2021 is 30,504. This is a decrease of 17% from 36,678 people in 2018. |
| How will Census 2025 be counted? |
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Three main data collection methods will be used to enumerate all households and accommodation facilities: Self-enumeration (online), door-to-door and telephone. The 2021 Census counted 90 per cent of the dwellings, to complete the census count a population estimation model was used. Census staff used an estimation model, that analyzed water consumption along with data from Census 2018 to determine water-consumption trends in relation to population. This methodology provided a reliable estimate of the number of people living in dwellings which were not counted during the regular period of enumeration. This and other types of administrative data are often used to complete census counts. |
| What is census information used for specifically? |
|
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. |
| How else is census information used? |
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Census information helps develop indicators and growth projections useful to attract investors and developers. It’s also used to develop neighbourhood profiles. |
| Why is it essential that everyone participates in the census? |
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Participating in the census will help us achieve an accurate population count. An accurate count will allow us to better plan for new community services, enhance existing services and ultimately work to make Wood Buffalo a better place to live, work and explore. |
| How is the social profit sector affected by the census? |
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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. |
| How does census information impact municipal budgeting? |
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Census information is used to assess existing growth and service targets as well as long-term requirements for capital development and operational planning. |
| How can I find more detailed census information? |
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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. They can be reached by phone by calling 780-743-7000 or toll-free 1-800-973-9663. |
Archived census reports
| Census 2021 |
| Census 2018 |
| Census 2015 |
| Census 2012 |
For older archived reports, please contact Pulse.