Photo: Curtis Galbraith

By Emily Keller

city committee

City considering possible shadow population count

Nov 13, 2019 | 6:23 AM

The Corporate Services Committee met Tuesday morning and adopted the results of the 2018 municipal census.

While the results had already been made available, they needed to be approved by the province before being officially adopted by the city committee.

Mayor Bill Given says the census results should be interesting to businesses and residents of the city.

“It shows how our community is growing over time, how our neighborhoods change over time, and how our growth has moderated over the last little period, but that our community has shown consistent growth over the long term, and I think that that’s something that’s a very important part of the narrative of our community.”

The results showed a population growth of 0.78% since the 2015 census, and that out of the total number of respondents, 6,149 have lived in Grande Prairie for less than two years.

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Discussion arose regarding the possibility of a shadow population count, and the motion was subsequently passed to have city administration collect information on how to conduct a shadow population analysis, including the cost and requirements.

“In Alberta, the provincial government has a specific regulation that allows municipalities to essentially count people living in hotels, or in work encampments and other areas, that may be causing a strain or utilizing municipal services.”

Given adds that with information on costs and requirements, council would be better able to determine if it would be worth it for the city to move forward with a shadow population count. If they did, the province would include the count in the overall community census number, which would affect things such as grants.