Olds ( ) is a town in

central Alberta Central Alberta is a region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. Central Alberta is the most densely populated rural area in the province. Agriculture and energy are important to the area's economy. Geography Central Alberta is bordered ...

, Canada within Mountain View County and the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor. It is approximately south of

Red Deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or Hart (deer), hart, and a female is called a doe or hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Ir ...

and north of

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

. The nearest towns are

Didsbury Didsbury is a suburb of Manchester, England, on the north bank of the River Mersey, south of Manchester city centre. The population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 26,788. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of ...

to the south, Bowden to the north, Sundre to the west and

Three Hills Three Hills is a town in southern Alberta, Canada. It takes its name from the three somewhat-larger-than-normal hills to its north. History Three Hills post office dates from 1904. Three Hills was incorporated as a village in 1912, the yea ...

to the east. Olds is located at the intersection of Highway 27 and Highway 2A, west of the Queen Elizabeth II Highway. The

Canadian Pacific Kansas City Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited, Trade name, doing business as CPKC (known as Canadian Pacific Railway Limited until 2023), is a Canadian railway holding company. Through its primary operating railroad subsidiaries, Canadian Pacific Railw ...

's main Edmonton-Calgary line runs through the town.

Geography

Olds lies within the Grasslands Natural Region of Alberta. Downtown Olds is about

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

. In 2011, the town covered a land area of .

Climate

Olds has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Dfb'') and falls into the

Natural Resources Canada Natural Resources Canada (NRCan; ; )Natural Resources Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Natural Resources (). is the department of the Government of Canada responsible for natural r ...

(NRC) Plant Hardiness Zone 3b. The average temperature is around in late July to in mid-January. Winters are cold with temperatures often dropping to or below . These are broken up from the dry

Chinook wind Chinook winds, or simply Chinooks, are two types of prevailing warm, generally westerly winds in western North America: Coastal Chinooks and interior Chinooks. The coastal Chinooks are persistent seasonal, wet, southwesterly winds blowing in from ...

s from the mountains. Summers can be hot with temperatures reaching up to .

Flora and fauna

Olds has various species living in and around it including poplar trees and various wild grasses. Olds is an agriculture based town, so a large portion of the flora grown are crops of

canola file:CanolaBlooms.JPG, Close-up of canola blooms file:Canola Flower.jpg, Canola flower Rapeseed oil is one of the oldest known vegetable oils. There are both Edible oil, edible and industrial forms produced from rapeseed, the seed of several ...

(''Brassica juncea'' subsp. ''juncea)'' and

barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...

(''Hordeum vulgare).'' The majority of fauna consists of livestock like cattle, and poultry. Many surrounding farms keep horses and/or donkeys.

Residential areas and neighbourhoods

The town of Olds is surrounded by residential neighbourhoods with various styles of housing. There are several mobile home parks throughout the town.

Economy

Olds has its own fibre optic

Internet Service Provider An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides a myriad of services related to accessing, using, managing, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, no ...

called O-Net that provides gigabit speeds to its residents and businesses. The service cost the town about $21,000,000 to install. Olds has a big-box retail centre which opened in 2008. It features a

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

, Canadian Tire,

Home Hardware Home Hardware Stores Ltd. is an independent home improvement retailer located in Canada. Co-founded by Walter Hachborn in 1964, and headquartered in St. Jacobs, Ontario, the company has close to 1,100 stores that operate under one of four banners ...

and other major retailers.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...

, the Town of Olds had a population of 9,209 living in 3,810 of its 4,096 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 9,184. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. In the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Town of Olds recorded a population of 9,184 living in 3,698 of its 3,942 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2011 population of 8,235. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2016. The population of the Town of Olds according to its 2014 municipal census is 8,617, a change of from its 2013 municipal census population of 8,511.

Education

Olds has four schools: École Olds Elementary School, École Deer Meadow School, Olds High School, and Holy Trinity Catholic School. Three schools in the area are part of the Chinook's Edge School Division No. 73 École Olds Elementary School is an elementary school containing kindergarten to grade 4. The school contains a small gymnasium with a rock climbing wall. The gym previously doubled as the gymnastics centre for the gymnastics club, which is now located along 25th Ave. École Deer Meadow School is a junior high school containing grades 5–8. There is a slightly larger gym as well as a music room for the students beginning in the band programs. Olds High School is a junior/senior high school containing grades 9–12. The school has a gymnasium and fitness centre and a fine arts theatre and is part of the Olds College Campus. The school has a variety of educational programs such as sports, band, shop, drama and stained glass program. Olds is also home to Olds College of Agriculture & Technology, noted for its agriculture technology programs.Olds College
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Sport and recreation

Olds is home to many sports teams such as the Olds Grizzlys

Alberta Junior Hockey League The Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) is an Alberta-based Junior A ice hockey league that belongs to the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL). It was formed as a five-team league in 1964. The 2023–24 season began with 16 teams, however 5 ...

(AJHL), located at the Olds Sports Complex. Olds College Broncos part of the Alberta Colleges Athletics Conference, Olds Rapids Swim Club Located at the Olds Aquatic Centre. And many sporting events such as the Hay City Slam Skate Comp held every summer at the Olds Skate Park. Home to two golf courses: Olds Central Highlands 23 hole course, east of Olds, off Highway 27 as well as the brand new 9 Hole Trail Creek Golf course located west of Olds, off Highway 27 that opened in July 2015 The Olds Gymnastics Club has recently migrated from their previous home in the Elementary School to a new building located along 25th Avenue. The building was formerly a Sears Canada building. Olds houses the 185 Olds Royal Canadian Air Cadets Squadron. The building was formerly the Olds recreation centre and is now rendered to the squadron. The building is also rented out by many local dance and church programs.

Notable people

* Danielle Lappage, Olympic wrestler, competed in Rio 2016 * Blake Richards, Canadian politician Member of Parliament for Banff-Airdrie (2008- current) * Jay Rosehill, professional ice hockey player

References

External links

* {{Subdivisions of Alberta, towns=yes Mountain View County Towns in Alberta 1896 establishments in the Northwest Territories