Achi news desk-
The populations of Calgary and Edmonton are still increasing.
In its year-end report on Canada’s population, Statistics Canada said 1,682,509 people call Calgary home.
That is an increase of six per cent, or 95,784 more residents, than at the end of 2022.
The population of the city of Edmonton increased to 1,563,571 people, an increase of 4.2 percent or 63,215 people over the previous year.
Calgary’s percentage of population increase was third highest in Canada, behind only Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo in Ontario and Moncton, DS, among Canada’s largest metropolitan areas.
Other Alberta municipalities experienced similar population growth rates between 2022 and 2023, including:
- Lethbridge: 130,741 to 135,230
- Red Deer: 105,654 to 109,262
- Medicine Hat: 79,073 to 80,331
- Grand Prairie: 66,056 to 67,606
- Wood Buffalo: 76,734 to 78,737
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At the end of 2023, Canada’s population was 40,769,890, almost 1.3 million, or 3.2 percent more than the previous year, and the highest increase in Canada’s population since 1957.
In its year-end report, the federal agency credits permanent and temporary immigration for the country’s growing population, including 471,771 permanent residents and 804,901 non-permanent residents.
“Since the end of 2020, demographic trends in Canada have changed significantly,” StatsCan said, with the fertility rate at an all-time low of 1.33 children in 2022.
Alberta’s population has also been affected by increased inter-provincial migration which has reached a level not seen in 30 years, with the province experiencing the largest net increase in inter-provincial migration, adding more than 55,107 people from other provinces .
In contrast, British Columbia lost 8,624 people through immigration to other provinces, mainly Alberta.
The rapid population growth is also a growing challenge to municipal budgets in Alberta.
“People don’t come here with their fire trucks and police cars and firefighters and police officers, and they don’t come with their pipes and their wastewater treatment facilities,” said Calgary city councilor Andre Chabot .
Managing the city’s growth, especially the infrastructure required, is probably the city’s biggest challenge.
“It’s going to affect our bottom line. We have so many capital projects underway at the moment to meet the needs of those new citizens, it will be very difficult from a financial perspective.”
& copy 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
