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Nunavut third in population growth Jeanne Gagnon Northern News Services Published Monday, February 13, 2012
Those are some of the highlights of the newly-released Statistics Canada 2011 Census of Population, which came out Feb. 8. It shows Nunavut has 31,906 residents, an increase of 2,432 people between 2006 and 2011. The territory's growth of 8.3 per cent is the third-fastest among provinces and territories after the Yukon and Alberta. Canada's population increased 5.9 per cent from 2006 to 2011 to approximately 33.5 million people, the data shows. Repulse Bay had the highest growth rate of any Nunavut community at some 26 per cent, with 945 people enumerated in 2011, an increase of 197 people, according to the census. Steven Mapsalak, the hamlet's senior administrative officer, said he believes people are attracted by the hunting possibilities because there are hardly any jobs available in the community. "Caribou is never too far away, all year round, and other wildlife," he said. "I think people that moved out years ago are moving back." Gjoa Haven had the second-highest growth rate, according to the census, with 1,279 people counted, an increase of 215 people. Arctic Bay came in third, with 133 people added to the population, bringing its 2011 headcount to 823, an increase of 19.3 per cent. Arctic Bay Mayor Frank May said he is not surprised the census shows the community growing. "We did have a little bit of a jump here with the closure of Nanisivik. There were three of four families that came over and percentage-wise. That makes quite a change," he said. "I haven't noticed any great slowdown in the number of babies being born." Arviat has surpassed Rankin Inlet in population to become the largest hamlet in the territory. Ed Murphy, senior administrative officer in Arviat, attributes the community's population growth to the birth rate, currently at just below six per month. "I don't believe there is a lot of migration into the community from outside. That is primarily due to the birth rate," he said. He added the hamlet is not surprised to be larger than Rankin Inlet. "We like being the largest hamlet in Nunavut," said Murphy. "So Arviat is the largest hamlet in Nunavut. Pretty neat, eh." Iqaluit sits at 6,699 residents, an increase of 515 people from 2006, according to the census. Iqaluit Mayor Madeleine Redfern said the census data is a fairly good estimate, adding the city gets a better idea on the number of its residents through the number of building permits issued and the number of residential units built yearly. "We are growing over 300 residents a year. We estimate our current population to be about 7,250," she said. Redfern said mining and exploration in the territory draws people to Iqaluit, both from other Nunavut communities and the south, as people look for employment opportunities. "We are definitely growing as a result of us being a capita city, the continued development of Nunavut as a territory," she said. "The federal government continues to open up new offices here. Some of the territorial government offices moved from the decentralized communities back to Iqaluit." On the other end of the spectrum, the census shows Hall Beach losing 16.5 per cent of its residents with 546 people counted during the census. John Ivey, the hamlet's senior administrative officer, said the government liaison office has a tally of over 700 residents. The hamlet has asked Statistics Canada to review the Hall Beach results. "We would suspect this (our numbers) is correct," he said, adding he doesn't understand why the census shows a decline. "We're trying to figure out why. We feel there must be some error. We don't know what happened." Five other communities had declining populations, according to the census - Grise Fiord, Chesterfield Inlet, Iglulik, Rankin Inlet and Resolute.
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