CALGARY- As Calgary continues to grow, more people are moving to the ‘burbs.
Civic census numbers released on Thursday show the population is up nearly three per cent from last year, to 1,149,552 people—an increase of nearly 30,000 people. Between April 2012 and April 2013, 19,067 more people moved to the city than away.
“This is the second largest annual increase in the last 20 years,” said Mayor Naheed Nenshi, adding Calgary’s infrastructure can handle the growth. “I think we’re at a healthy point right now.”
Communities on the outskirts of the city saw the largest influx of residents, with the northwest neighbourhood of Evanston leading the charge. 1,680 people moved there, followed closely by Auburn Bay which saw 1,632 new residents. Cranston, Skyview Ranch, Panorama Hills, New Brighton, Copperfield and Aspen Woods also saw a growth of over 1,000 people.
The community of Panorama Hills has the highest population in the city, with 23,605 people living in just 7,654 homes. Taradale and McKenzie Towne aren’t far behind, with over 17,000 residents each. There is also new growth taking place in established communities, such as the northeast community of Rundle. There are now more people living there than in 2009, after years of population decline.
The building boom also continues, with over 9,000 homes being built this year—a two per cent increase from last year. At the same time, the number of available units continues to decrease, to just 834 for a vacancy rate of 2.59 per cent. It’s important to note that the census numbers were gathered before the June flood, meaning there are likely even less units available now.
“We know that there were some basement apartments that are no longer habitable, there are people who are out of their homes and obviously they need somewhere else to be,” says Nenshi. “That will bring down the vacancy rate.”
Census numbers are used for planning, and determining grants from other levels of government.
Map: Population change in Calgary by community, 2009-2013
Source: City of Calgary 2013 Civic Census
Note: We were unable to match some communities, such as the residual wards, with the map geography supplied by the City of Calgary. We were unable to calculate percentage change on wards that grew from a population of zero.
Click here for or a full list of results from the city census.
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