The 'Calgary Region' is the metropolitan area based around
Calgary,
Alberta. The borders of this area are defined differently for each of the
Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) and the Calgary Region. The area is a major transportation hub for southern Alberta,
Saskatchewan, eastern
British Columbia, and parts of the northern
United States. It is served by the
Calgary International Airport, the fourth busiest airport in the country (by passenger movements).
Unlike many major urbanized areas, Calgary developed as a "unicity" having incorporated most of its suburbs into the city proper. In the past, when the city limits reached the borders of neighbouring municipalities, they were simply annexed into the population of Calgary. Therefore, the vast majority of the region's population actually lives within the City of Calgary (proper) whose population reached 1,000,000 on July 25, 2006.
Calgary's census metropolitan area
The
Census Metropolitan Area is the definition Statistics Canada uses to determine the demographics of greater Calgary (this is the same for other large
Canadian cities). The CMA's boundary takes in the City of Calgary along with the
Municipal District of Rocky View and all the municipalities enclosed within the MD of Rocky View—these include the
City of Airdrie, the
Town of Cochrane, the
Town of Chestermere and the village of
Beisker. Rocky View also includes a number of unincorporated hamlets such as Springbank and Bragg Creek. The Calgary CMA is the 5th largest metropolitan area in the country and the largest in
Alberta. In 2006, Statistics Canada estimated the population of the CMA to be 1,107,200. The land area of this region is
===
Alberta Census Division No. 6===
Statistics Canada also uses an additional area centred on Calgary, Census Division 6, for regionalized statistical purposes. It is somewhat larger than the CMA, extending further south to include the
Municipal District of Foothills and the municipalities that MD encloses (most notably
Okotoks) and further north to include
Mountain View County.
Calgary Regional Partnership
The Calgary Region (economic region) is essentially represented by the Calgary Regional Partnership (CRP). The CRP is a cooperative of economically associated municipalities in the area. Since the CRP is an organization and not an area per se, not all of the municipalities within the sphere of what is effectively greater Calgary are members. Unlike the CMA, the Calgary Economic Region had an estimated population of 1,167,700 at August of 2006. The Calgary Regional Partnership includes the
Municipal District of Rocky View, the
City of Airdrie, the
Town of Cochrane, the
Town of Chestermere,
Town of Okotoks, the
Town of High River, and the
Municipal District of Foothills. It also includes the
Town of Canmore, and the
Municipal District of Bighorn to the west and the
Town of Strathmore to the east. The towns of
Crossfield and
Banff are recent additions to the CRP. Many of the communities of the CRP are also part of the
Calgary Health Region. The population of the CRP is predicted to reach 1.2 million in 2008 and 1.3 million by 2013.
Municipalities of Greater Calgary
| Municipality | CMA | CRP | Population | Year |
|---|
| ''Cities'' |
| City of Airdrie | ★ | ★ | 31,512 | 2007 |
| City of Calgary | ★ | ★ | 1,019,942 | 2007 |
| ''Towns'' |
| Town of Banff | | ★ | 6,700 | 2006 |
| Town of Black Diamond | | ★ | 1,900 | 2006 |
| Town of Canmore | | ★ | 12,039 | 2006 |
| Town of Chestermere | ★ | ★ | 11,262 | 2007 |
| Town of Cochrane | ★ | ★ | 13,760 | 2006 |
| Town of Crossfield | ★ | ★ | 2,648 | 2006 |
| Town of High River | | ★ | 10,716 | 2006 |
| Town of Irricana | ★ | | 1,243 | 2006 |
| Town of Okotoks | | ★ | 17,145 | 2006 |
| Town of Strathmore | | ★ | 10,225 | 2006 |
| Town of Turner Valley | | ★ | 1,908 | 2006 |
| ''Villages'' |
| Village of Beiseker | ★ | | 804 | 2006 |
| ''Rural districts'' |
| Municipal District of Bighorn | | ★ | 1,264 | 2006 |
| Municipal District of Foothills | | ★ | 19,736 | 2006 |
| Municipal District of Rocky View | ★ | ★ | 34,171 | 2006 |
| ''First Nations reserves'' |
| Tsuu T'ina Nation | ★ | ★ | 1,982 | 2006 |
Footnotes
★ Does not include non-permanent population of 1,025
★ Does not include non-permanent population of 3,790
See also
★
Calgary
★
Calgary-Edmonton Corridor
★
Census Metropolitan Area
External links
★
Statistics Canada
★
Official Website of the Calgary Regional Partnership
★
Official Website Calgary Economic Development
★
Rocky View Municipal District - the largest municipality in the Calgary Region