CANADIAN IMMIGRATION NEWS

Canada's largest cities not reporting fastest growth rate

Monday, 16 April 2007

Canada's largest cities not reporting fastest growth rate

Canada's largest cities not reporting fastest growth rate Last Updated: Thursday, April 26, 2007 | 12:49 PM ET CBC News Canada's three largest cities have seen steady increases in population over the last few decades, but slightly smaller urban centres have had a higher growth rate, according to a newly released report. The report issued Thursday by Statistics Canada studied the demographics of metropolitan areas between 1971 and 2001. It said six cities with populations of between 500,000 and 1.1 million had a growth rate of 55 per cent combined. They were identified as Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary, Hamilton, Quebec City and Ottawa-Gatineau. In comparison, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver had a combined growth rate of 52 per cent over the same period. The most urbanized areas, with the exception of the three largest cities, underwent "significant migratory gains," the report said. "This was also the case with rural areas that had a strong metropolitan influence." The most rural regions experienced a weak demographic growth, in some cases a decline, despite having higher fertility than other regions, it said. Immigration — which has remained high since the end of the 1980s and has allowed Canada to experience one of the most significant population growths among G-8 countries — is also not uniform across the country.