Statistics Canada just released some of their population data from the 2016 Federal Census, revealing that Calgary's population growth over the past five years has been the most explosive in the country. Today we'll take a look at Calgary's numbers, where Calgary fits in, and what the numbers mean.

Calgarians strolling through the park, image by Kevin Cappis

The latest figures show Calgary's census metropolitan area (reference map) has grown from 1,214,839 people in 2011 to 1,392,609 people in 2016. This increase of 177,770 people is the second highest number for all metro areas, after Toronto, and comes in higher than Vancouver or Montreal. When considered as a percentage, Calgary's 14.6 percent growth is top in the nation, slightly ahead of the Edmonton's similarly rapid growth of 13.8 percent.

Growth of Canada's Six Largest Metro Areas, image by Kevin Cappis

While Calgary's numbers look impressive, it's important to note that census data from 2011 to 2016 would not reflect changes to recent growth rates due to the down-turned economy. From 2014 to 2015 Calgary had strong growth (33,800 people), but those numbers were taken at the beginning of the downturn. At some point later this year, Statistics Canada will release their year-over-year population estimates which will give a better idea of Calgary's growth over the past year.

Economic downturn aside, one of the positive indicators from Calgary's population growth is the growth rates in various parts of the city. While outlying new suburban districts have predictably seen the most growth, inner-city areas are seeing strong growth as well. Only one inner-city area saw a population decline, and this is largely due to the massive flood of 2014, which destroyed numerous homes. Many of those homes have not yet been rebuilt.

Growth in various parts of Calgary, image via GlobalNews.ca

Not only is there growth in the inner city, it's also distributed fairly consistently throughout the core. Unlike many cities that see one or two emerging hot spots, Calgary is growing throughout the central city.

This is very encouraging for a city that has been making efforts to increase the inner-city population through various methods including zoning density increases to existing neighbourhoods like Bridgeland, Sunnyside, and Hillhurst as well as CRLs (Community Revitalisation Levies), as is the case with East Village. With several inner-city projects completed after the census, and several still under construction, those inner-city numbers will only continue to grow.

On a final note, some may wonder why areas immediately to the south of Calgary are not included in the CMA population. Places like Dewinton, Okotoks, and High River are adjacent to the city but not included. This is due to the method Statistics Canada uses to calculate metro populations. It's based on labour and commuting patterns, which currently do not expand south of the city, at least for now. Depending on traffic and labour patterns in the future, this is likely to change.

Stay tuned for more updates on Calgary's population growth as they happen, and for more discussion on this topic, check out the associated Forum Thread.

