The ten census divisions experiencing the largest increases in the past year ¹

Population estimates as of July 1, 2006 indicate that the ten (10) census divisions (CDs) experiencing the largest increases in population growth are located in Alberta, Quebec and Ontario.

In the case of Alberta, the province attracted many migrants from other parts of Canada mainly due to the economic boom fuelled by investment from soaring energy exports. For Quebec and Ontario, the strong growth in some CDs is mainly due to the phenomenon of urban spread and a robust provincial economy.

Therefore, in the ten (10) CDs registering the strongest population growth, the Alberta CDs increases are largely due to interprovincial migration. In the case of CDs from Quebec and Ontario, subprovincial migration explains most of the growth. The only exception is the CD of Peel, in Ontario, which instead benefited from international migration.

Of the five (5) census divisions that posted the largest increases for the period 2005-2006, four (4) are located in Alberta. Division No. 16, which includes Wood Buffalo and Fort MacKay, experienced the strongest growth (47.7 ‰), putting it slightly ahead of Division No. 19 (47.3 ‰), which includes Grande Prairie and Peace River. The Mirabel CD in Quebec ranks third with a growth rate of 43.9 ‰, coming in ahead of the other two Alberta CDs, Division No. 8 (Red Deer, Lacombe and Ponoka) and Division No. 6 (Calgary) with respective rates of 37.7 ‰ and 36.8 ‰. (See text table 3.1 )

The other five (5) CDs that experienced the largest increases are located in Quebec and Ontario. Of these, three (3) are located in Quebec: Les Collines-De-L’Outaouais (which includes Val-Des-Monts, La Pêche, Chelsea and Cantley) with a growth rate of 36.4 ‰, Jacques-Cartier (Lac-Beauport and Stoneham-et-Tewkesbury) with 35.1 ‰ and Vaudreuil-Soulange (Vaudreuil-Dorion, St-Lazare and Pincourt) with 32.0 ‰. The other two (2) divisions are located in the suburbs of Toronto: Peel (Mississauga and Brampton) with 35.4 ‰ and York (Markham, Vaughan and Richmond Hill) with 32.3 ‰.

The five census divisions experiencing the largest decreases in the past year (see footnote)

Population estimates as of July 1, 2006 indicate that the five (5) census divisions that experienced the largest decreases are mainly located in the prairie provinces as well as Newfoundland and Labrador. Once again, one of the factors behind this decrease was the strong growth of the Alberta economy, which attracted many workers to the province in 2005-2006. Because of the proximity of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to Alberta, the propensity of large numbers of individuals to migrate to Alberta was greater for those provinces. However, many persons from Newfoundland and Labrador also moved to Alberta in the past year, despite the distance.

The CDs exhibiting the largest decreases included, in Saskatchewan, Division No. 3 (which includes Assiniboia and Gravelbourg) with -27.1 ‰, Division No. 12 (Battleford, Vanscoy, Biggar and Rosetown) with -25.0 ‰ and Division No. 10 (Wynyard, Wadena and Foam Lake) with -22.3 ‰. In Newfoundland and Labrador, Division No. 3 (Channel-Port aux Basques, Harbour Breton and Burgeo) with -23.0 ‰ and, in Manitoba, Division No. 16 (Roblin and Russel) with -30.0 ‰ also registered sizable decreases. (See text table 3.2 )