Calgary records population jump of 21,007 at last census

CALGARY-Calgary sees an increase in new citizens, according to the 2018 census results released Friday.

The city welcomed 21,007 new citizens over the past year, representing more than 9,419 babies and 11,588 people who settled in the city.

The 2018 Civic Census reports a population of 1,267,344, an increase of 1.69% compared to 2017. The census covered the period from April 2017 to April 2018.

"It's not like the record years, I've had four in a row, during the first four years of work, "said Mayor Naheed Nenshi. "But it is certainly much higher than in the past."

In 2014 and 2015, the city saw over 35,000 new Calgarians pour in.

This dropped dramatically in 2016, when the city saw only 4,256 new residents. It rebounded in 2017, with 11,166 new residents who settled in Calgary

The city experienced a positive net migration – 11,588 people settling in the city last year, or 974 of more than in 2017. Figures continue to increase migration levels after the 2016 exodus, where a record 6,527 people packed their bags and fled Calgary in the middle of the year. a growing economic recession

Population growth is still mainly due to a natural increase in births.

Auburn Bay seems to be the perfect place to raise a young family. The southeastern neighborhood has the largest number of preschoolers (5 years old and under) with 2,410.

The Beltline Urban Community experienced the largest increase in new residents, with an increase of 1,668 people.

"The belt is on the heels of Panorama Hills to be the largest community in the city," Nenshi said. "If current population trends continue, we will likely see this happening in the next year or two."

But most of the growth came from the periphery of the city and new communities. Nine other neighborhoods welcomed more than 1,000 new residents, including Saddle Ridge, Mahogany and Evanston.

The vacancy rate in Calgary dropped from 4.75% to 3.85%, Nenshi saying that this could be due to the fact that more people moved to Calgary. The city also saw about 9,000 housing units added during the census period.

Nenshi said he was happy with this year's overall census response rate, jumping 1.14 percent, to 98.61 percent. More than a third of these responses were completed online.

For a more in-depth survey of the census, visit calgary.ca/census.

Mary Getaneh is a Calgary journalist covering arts, culture and diversity. . Follow her on Twitter: @marygetaneh