Olds (/oʊldz/ OHLDZ) is a town in central Alberta, Canada within Mountain View County and the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor. It is approximately 61 km (38 mi) south of Red Deer and 90 km (56 mi) north of Calgary. The nearest towns are Didsbury to the south, Bowden to the north, Sundre to the west and Three Hills to the east. Olds is located at the intersection of Highway 27 and Highway 2A, 5 km (3.1 mi) west of the Queen Elizabeth II Highway. The Canadian Pacific Kansas City's main Edmonton-Calgary line runs through the town.
Olds lies within the Grasslands Natural Region of Alberta. Downtown Olds is about 1,041 m (3,415 ft) above sea level. In 2011, the town covered a land area of 14.87 km2 (5.74 sq mi).
Olds has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb) and falls into the Natural Resources Canada (NRC) Plant Hardiness Zone 3b. The average temperature is around 11.5 °C (52.7 °F) in late July to −10.1 °C (13.8 °F) in mid-January.
Winters are cold with temperatures often dropping to or below −30 °C (−22 °F). These are broken up from the dry Chinook winds from the mountains.
Summers can be hot with temperatures reaching up to 30 °C (86 °F).
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 (Brassica juncea subsp. juncea) and barley (Hordeum vulgare).
The majority of fauna consists of livestock like cattle, and poultry. Many surrounding farms keep horses and/or donkeys.
The town of Olds is surrounded by residential neighbourhoods with various styles of housing. There are several mobile home parks throughout the town.
Olds has its own fibre optic Internet Service Provider called O-Net that provides gigabit speeds to its residents and businesses. The service cost the town about $21,000,000 to install.[6] Olds has a big-box retail centre which opened in 2008. It features a Walmart, Canadian Tire, Home Hardware and other major retailers.
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Town of Olds had a population of 9,209 living in 3,810 of its 4,096 total private dwellings, a change of 0.3% from its 2016 population of 9,184. With a land area of 14.92 km2 (5.76 sq mi), it had a population density of 617.2/km2 (1,598.6/sq mi) in 2021.[2]
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