Kingston’s population grew 7% since last census

With some data from the 2021 census having been released, the City of Kingston, Ont., has noticed a significant increase in one statistic – population.

The number of people who call the Limestone City home has grown seven per cent since the 2016 census, now sitting at 132,485, up from 123,798 five years prior.

According to Statistics Canada, there are now 63,095 private dwellings within the city.

Elsewhere in the region, Belleville increased its population by 8.6 per cent, while Brockville went up by 2.5 per cent.

Nationally the population grew by 5.2 per cent to 36,991,981, and Ontario’s population rose by 5.8 per cent to 14,223,942

Mark Rosenberg, professor of geography at Queen’s University, says he’s not surprised by the city’s growth.

“We can see that manifest throughout the city by various new housing and commercial developments,” Rosenberg said. “I don’t know whether it was by design, but I think Kingston has become an increasingly attractive community in which to live.”

He added that Kingston is benefitting from spillover from city’s like Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal because of its cheaper housing market.

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He also suggested Kingston could be getting a boost from new Canadians too.

“I think once COVID-19 is under control and immigration starts to increase again, I think certainly for the next five years, if not longer, Kingston’s going to continue to grow as an attractive community given the relative costs of living here compared to larger communities in Ontario,” Rosenberg said.