Edmonton is the capital of Alberta which is the only Canadian province that doesn’t impose a provincial sales tax thereby giving Edmonton the advantage of a relatively low tax rate. The main industry in Edmonton is oil and gas but the economy is quite diverse with a growing technology sector. With a vibrant economy, unemployment is relatively low, however, many of the available jobs are entry level positions.  The salaries earned don’t produce enough income to raise workers above the poverty level (Kolkman, 2017). According to the 2011 census, the economy attracted a large population of workers in the 25 - 44 year age group with 31% of the population in this age group. In fact, Edmonton has the lowest average age of major cities in Canada (“Youth: Edmonton’s Demographic Advantage”, 2012). Home to the largest shopping mall in North America, The West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton is the northernmost city with a population over 1 million (Regan, n.d.).

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According to the 2016 Canadian census, Edmonton had population growth of 13.9% from 2011. That growth outpaced the national rate of 5% and the Alberta rate of 11.6%  (“New Census Data”, 2017). The population of Edmonton is quite diverse, with 25.8% of its population being born outside of Canada (Kolkman, 2017). In addition, between 2011 and 2016 there was a 31% growth in residents who spoke a language other than French or English as their first language (Wakefield, 2017). Contributing to Edmonton’s diversity is its concentration of First Nation, Inuit or Metis residents which make up a total of 6% of the population (Wakefield, 2017).