The municipalities in the Calgary-Edmonton corridor had a total population of 2,150,000 in 2001, up 12.3% from 1996, the largest growth rate of all four regions. The corridor, stretching from Calgary in the south to Edmonton in the north, and which includes Leduc, Red Deer and Wetaskiwin, accounted for 72% of Alberta's population and 7% of Canada's.
The main factor behind this growth was migration from other provinces. In large part, Canadians left other resource-based regions for Alberta.
A second contributor to the growth in the corridor was a strong rate of natural increase, the result of a relatively young population. Calgary and Edmonton are also beginning to attract international immigration, but this represented less of a contribution to demographic growth. Six of the 25 fastest-growing municipalities in Canada are in this corridor.
The rest of Alberta increased 5.3%, due to growth in the oil fields in the north, and increases in Lethbridge and Medicine Hat.