NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
Revised estimates of the territorial population by Statistics Canada show, counter to previous figures, the number of people living here has been increasing over recent years.

NWT population as of July 1 2005 - 43,401 2006 - 43,178 2007 - 43,374 2008 - 43,350 2009 - 43,149 2010 - 43,278 2011 - 43,501 2012 - 43,648 2013 - 43,884 2014 - 43,980 2015 - 44,088 Source: Statistics Canada

The national statistics agency last week released estimates for the population as of July 1 and revised its population figures showing a population on the rise, slightly, since 2009.

"Population growth seems to be pretty constant in the Northwest Territories," Andre Lebel, a demographer with the national statistics agency, said last week.

A decade ago, the population was estimated to be 43,401.

As of July 1 this year, the population was estimated to be 44,088, an increase of 108, or 0.2 per cent, from the same time last year.

The growth is attributed to immigration and a higher number of births than deaths.

Earlier this year, the agency reported the population in the territory decreased by nearly 500 people between April 2014 and April 2015, triggering stories of people leaving and concern from politicians.

So, what's behind fluctuating population figures from the agency? Several factors, said Lebel.

"The lower the level the population is, the harder it is to estimate," he said.

In addition, several data sources from the territorial and federal governments are consulted to come up with the population estimates and the figures are updated as more information becomes available over time.

Lebel said figuring out the territory's population begins with the latest census.

Then each year the agency collects birth and death information from the territorial government, immigration information from the federal government and inter-provincial migration from tax information.

That's combined to figure out the population on a quarterly basis.

Within the first year, Statistics Canada cautions the population data is preliminary.

As more records are accessible, the figures are revised.

The agency finalizes figures about three years later. So, 2015 figures should be finalized by 2018.

"Those population counts are the best we can do with the information that we have at the time," Lebel said.

Because of the fluctuations, Weledeh MLA Bob Bromley said he's not putting too much weight in figures.

"I think it's a hopeful sign," he said of the small increase.

"I don't think you can read too much into it."

The territory benefits from an increase because there's a transfer payment from the federal government based on each person who lives here. The transfer is $35,000 per person, according NWT cabinet spokesperson Roya Grinsted.

During a speech in the legislative assembly Sept. 30 about the territory's fiscal situation, Finance Minister Michael Miltenberger spoke about the latest figures.

"While these new estimates suggest that the retention efforts in our population growth strategy are working, other important initiatives of this strategy, including increasing immigration to the NWT through the Nominee and Express Entry programs, may also be bearing fruit," he said, referring to the GNWT goal of growing the population by 2,000 by 2019.

"However, it does not change the Northwest Territories fiscal outlook and we cannot relax efforts to address our economic challenges," Miltenberger said.

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