OTTAWA (CP) — The numbers are in and new information from the 2006 census shows Toronto has not kept pace with Canada’s national growth rate over the last five years.
Statistics Canada released the first data from last year’s census on Tuesday and it showed the population of Toronto has increased by 0.9 per cent since the 2001 census.
During the same five-year time period, Canada’s national population increased 5.4 per cent, while the population of Ontario increased by 6.6 per cent.
When the census was taken in May 2006 the population of Toronto was 2,503,281 compared with 2,481,494 in 2001.
The census indicates booming Alberta had the highest growth rate among all provinces — its 10.6 per cent population gain attributed mostly to the influx of people from other parts of Canada who have gone there to work in the oil business.
Other provinces that experienced growth were Ontario (6.6 per cent), British Columbia (5.3 per cent), Quebec (4.3 per cent), Manitoba (2.6 per cent), Nova Scotia (0.6 per cent), Prince Edward Island (0.4 per cent) and New Brunswick (0.1 per cent).
The new census data shows the provinces that experienced loss in population were Newfoundland and Labrador (-1.5 per cent) and Saskatchewan (-1.1 per cent).
In the North, all three territories experienced growth higher than the national average from 2001-06.
Nunavut’s population grew 10.2 per cent and the Yukon increased 5.9 per cent. The population of the Northwest Territories increased 11.0 per cent, but Statistics Canada cautioned that the actual growth rate may not be that high. It said the increase is likely the result of an “undercount””of N.W.T. inhabitants in 2001.
Canada’s population as of census day 2006 was 31,612,897, Statistics Canada reported.
Ontario remains the most populous Canadian province or territory, with a population of 12,160,282. The population of other provinces and territories: Quebec, 7,546,131; British Columbia, 4,113,487; Alberta, 3,290,350; Manitoba, 1,148,401; Saskatchewan, 968,157; Nova Scotia, 913,462; New Brunswick, 729,997; Newfoundland and Labrador, 505,469; Prince Edward Island, 135,851; Northwest Territories, 41,464; Yukon Territory, 30,372 and Nunavut, 29,474.
The census is conducted every five years by Statistics Canada and is based on information filled out by Canadians on census day on May 16, 2006.
The information released Tuesday is the first in a series of census data that will be released periodically over the next 15 months. Future data will give demographic breakdowns on dozens of topics, including age, sex, marital status, language, ethnic origin, education and income.
