Nunavut's population surpasses Yukon's
Shane Magee
Northern News Services
Monday, February 27, 2017
QAUSUITTUQ/RESOLUTE
Off hand, Mike Stephens can count about 10 people who have left Resolute since September. About nine people have come to the community during the same period.
"It sort of evened out in the long run, but it does seem like there are less people than when I got here four-and-a-half years ago," Stephens, the hamlet's senior administrative officer, said in an interview earlier this month.
The 2016 census counted 198 people in the community, down 7.5 per cent - or 16 people - from the 2011 census.
"It's such a small spot that you really notice anybody who is missing," Stephens said.
The slight decline is an anomaly in the territory, according to the first batch of census data released by Statistics Canada on Feb. 8.
The data indicates 12 of the territory's communities saw double-digit population increases. The three largest changes were a 39.6 per cent increase in Chesterfield Inlet to 437 people, a 21 per cent increase in Kugaaruk to 933 residents, and 15.7 per cent increase in Iglulik to 1,682.
Declines were recorded in three communities: Grise Fiord, Kimmirut and Resolute.
The increases in many communities fueled an overall territorial growth rate of 12.7 per cent over five years, the highest in the country. The national population growth rate was five per cent. The territory's population stood at 35,944 during last year's national count, making the territory more populous than Yukon.
Statistics Canada credited the territory's high fertility levels for the strong growth.
Women give birth to 2.9 children on average, compared to 1.6 children on average nationally.
The territory's population growth means it now ranks as the second largest of the three territories.
Premier Peter Taptuna called the census results "great news" in a tweet with a link to a news story.
"Always said NU is growing on many fronts," Taptuna stated Feb. 8. He added that, before you know it, the territory will catch up to the Northwest Territories' population.
The census counted 41,786 people in the Northwest Territories last year, up only 0.8 per cent from the census in 2006.
The territory's population has a tangible impact on its finances.
The federal government uses population figures when calculating transfer payments to the territories. For each person, Nunavut gets $42,055, according to Finance Canada.
The majority of the territory's budget comes from those transfer payments, which for the next fiscal year will reach $1.58 billion.
But as populations climb, it means there's a higher demand for services like power and the infrastructure that supplies it.
Iqaluit-Sinaa MLA Paul Okalik last week asked Johnny Mike, the minister responsible for Qulliq Energy Corporation, about expansion of the Cape Dorset power generation plant.
"The community cannot expand because of the limitations of the power station," Okalik said Feb. 22. He sought to find out when more efficient LED street lights would be installed, which could reduce the demand for power.
The community's 1.8-megawatt diesel power station was constructed in 1964 and is considered beyond its expected lifespan, according to a Senate report from 2015.
Cape Dorset's population grew 5.7 per cent, according to census data, to 1,441 in 2016.
"I would like all of you to be aware that there is planning for a new power plant in Cape Dorset," Mike said. "I can look into the question about the street lights as well to see what can be done along the lines of his question."
