Photo by Curtis Galbraith.

By Curtis Galbraith

City Hall

City council approves having a municipal census in Grande Prairie this year

Feb 27, 2024 | 6:00 AM

Grande Prairie City Council approved having a municipal census this year at Monday’s meeting.

Mayor Jackie Clayton says a higher population would mean more grant money from the province.

“The LGFF (Local Government Fiscal Framework) money that’s received from the provincial government is based on your population.”

“Our last census showed a number around 63,000 and we know that our numbers have grown and so getting that census done, knowing that the LGFF is primarily funding (based) on population, is a priority.”

Clayton says she does not have any expectations about what population numbers the census will find.

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“We do know that if we were to not do the census and stick with the old numbers, it’d be approximately a half-million dollars of lost money… because we would be stuck with an old number for multiple years.”

The population count would most likely take place in the spring.

“Well, it has to be done by the end of July. I would suspect it’ll be done in May and June,” adds Clayton.

The Mayor says the city would hire a manager and temporary staff to do the population count. Money to do this is included in the 2024 budget.