Alberta’s Population Keeps Growing Regardless of Energy Prices

Alberta's Population Growth is Slowing, but not Stopping...

The most recent population figures released by Statistics Canada concerning Alberta show that the province is still, in fact, getting larger in number despite a slumping economy tied to low energy prices. See our previous post at Despite Economy, Alberta’s Population Keeps Growing today.

Between July 1st, 2014, and June 30th, 2015, Calgary and Edmonton combined grew by more than 65,000 people. Both cities also tied in second place as the fastest growing Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs) in Canada at an increase of 2.4 percent (see the top 10 below).

Without a doubt slumping energy prices have taken its toll on interprovincial and international migration to Calgary and Edmonton shown by a decline by 1 percent in growth rate year over year. Between July 1st, 2013 and June 30th, 2014, that growth was sitting at 3.5 percent for both cities.

Looking at a longer period of time, Calgary has outpaced Edmonton in growth at 47.2 percent compared to 41.7 percent since 2001 – the highest population growth rate percentages in all of Canada. Doing the math quickly and that’s 462,000 new Calgarians and 401,000 new Edmontonians over the past 15 years.

Calgary and Edmonton fall into place as the fourth and fifth largest CMAs in Canada and account for two of the six of such with populations over one million.

With economic uncertainty ahead of us it is likely that Alberta’s main cities will slowdown in growth but still hold spots as two of the fastest growing metropolitans in the country.

Growth in other CMAs

To put things into perspective, the average population growth for all other CMAs around Canada was just 1.2 percent – half that of Alberta’s main metropolises. Canada’s top ten fastest growing CMAs include:

#1 - Kelowna – 3.2 percent

#2 - Calgary – 2.4 percent

#3 - Edmonton – 2.4 percent

#4 - Saskatoon – 2.0 percent

#5 - Regina – 1.9 percent

#6 - Abbotsford-Mission – 1.4 percent

#7 - Winnipeg – 1.4 percent

#8 - Moncton – 1.3 percent

#9 - Oshawa – 1.3 percent

#10 - Toronto – 1.3 percent

Of all the CMAs in Canada, Peterborough, Saguenay, Saint John, Sudbury and Thunder Bay are five that actually recorded their population reduce over the same time frame mentioned above.

*Sourced from Statistics Canada

More on Alberta's Population Growth

• Will Population Growth Help Alberta’s Economy Recover?

• Population Growth Projected for Alberta