Population of Calgary increased by 12.4 per cent

New information from the 2006 census shows Calgary has outpaced Canada's national growth rate over the last five years.

Statistics Canada released the first data from last year's census on Tuesday and it showed the population of Calgary has increased by 12.4 per cent since the 2001 census.

During the same five-year period, Canada's national population increased 5.4 per cent, while the population of Alberta increased by 10.6 per cent to 3,290,350.

When the census was taken in May 2006, the population of Calgary was 988,193, compared with 879,003 in 2001. The population of Edmonton in 2006 was 730,372, compared with 666,104 in 2001.

The census indicates booming Alberta had the highest growth rate among all provinces its 10.6 per cent population gain attributed mostly to the influx of people from other parts of Canada who have moved to work in the oil industry.

Other provinces that experienced growth were Ontario (6.6 per cent), British Columbia (5.3 per cent), Quebec (4.3 per cent), Manitoba (2.6 per cent), Nova Scotia (0.6 per cent), Prince Edward Island (0.4 per cent) and New Brunswick (0.1 per cent).

The new census data show the provinces that experienced loss in population were Newfoundland and Labrador (1.5 per cent) and Saskatchewan (1.1 per cent).

In the North, all three territories experienced population growth higher than the national average.

Canada's population has reached 31.6M

Canada's population on census day 2006 was 31,612,897, Statistics Canada reported.

Ontario remains the most populous Canadian province or territory, with 12,160,282 people.

The census is conducted every five years by Statistics Canada and the current data is based on informationprovidedby Canadians onMay 16, 2006.

The information made public Tuesday is the first in a series of census data releases that will occur periodically over the next 15 months. Future data will give demographic breakdowns on dozens of topics, including age, sex, marital status, language, ethnic origin, education and income.