Stats Canada: B.C. population could reach 7.1 million by 2036

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Statistics Canada predicts the population in B.C. will jump from the current 4.5 million, to as high as 7.1 million by 2036.  Canada’s population could grow from 33.7 million to between 40.1 million under the low growth scenario and 47.7 million under the high growth scenario.

There isn’t much room left in Metro Vancouver to spread out and SFU urban planner Gord Price says some of those new people coming to B.C. may spread to Eastern Vancouver Island towns and to the Okanagan.

Price says people in Metro Vancouver will probably be building ‘up’ instead, especially along transit lines.  “That’s where you will notice change quite dramatically. There will be a real physical concentration and development will be very apparent. Other parts of it may not change very much at all physically even though the people of course will change.”

Price says the multicultural mix we have now, will probably stay the same.  “The rule of thumb is that about a third are home grown, our babies. About another third come from somewhere else in Canada and about another third are from elsewhere around the world.”

Price stresses that growth really depends on the economy, the availability of resources and the possibility of future disasters–even if that’s unpleasant to think about.  He says cities like Vancouver may become better places to live, as we learn from the past and live sustainably.

The Stats Canada report (available here), looks at various growth scenarios.  It says the ageing of the population is projected to accelerate rapidly by 2036, as the entire baby boom generation turns 65 during this period. The number of senior citizens could more than double to between 9.9 million and 10.9 million, outnumbering children for the first time.

Overall, regardless of the scenario, the report says growth would be higher than the national average in Ontario and British Columbia.  Ontario’s population would increase from nearly 13.1 million in 2009 to between 16.1 million and 19.4 million in 2036, approximately 40 per cent of the national population.

The population of British Columbia would increase from nearly 4.5 million in 2009 to between 5.8 million and 7.1 million in 2036, approximately 14 per cent of Canada’s population.

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