Census 2016: P.E.I. leading region in population growth, but behind national average

P.E.I.'s population growth is strong relative to the rest of Atlantic Canada, but pales in comparison to the rest of the country, the first release from the 2016 census shows.

• P.E.I. population growing quickly, but so is out-migration

Statistics Canada issued some of the early results of the census Wednesday morning.

• Census 2016: Canada's population surpasses 35 million

While the population of P.E.I. is growing at a faster rate than any other Atlantic province, it is well behind the national rate of growth.

The P.E.I. population grew 1.9 per cent between the 2011 and 2016 censuses. Nationally the population was up 5.0 per cent.

As a result, P.E.I.'s share of the Canadian population is on the decline, as it has been for decades. In 1966 0.54 per cent of Canadians were Islanders, but in 2016 just 0.41 per cent were.

Stratford gets a look-in

The town of Stratford, long recognized as P.E.I.'s fastest growing community, received a brief mention in Wednesday's release.

The town just made the top 25 list of fastest growing communities in Canada that are outside of a metropolitan area, with a growth of 13.2 per cent between 2011 and 2016, and a 2016 population of 9,706.

Stratford ranked 25 on that list. The top growing community, Blackfalds, Alberta, grew 48.1 per cent.

Stratford was the only Atlantic Canadian community on that list, but Paradise, part of metropolitan St. John's, made a list of metropolitan-area communities growing more than 15 per cent, with a growth of 20.9 per cent.

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