Kelowna still growing, but not so quickly

Greater Kelowna may be B.C.’s fastest-growing city, but the population increase is now below average in a national context.

The latest population figures from Statistics Canada show the Central Okanagan’s growth rate slowing, continuing a trend that began in 2011.

Between 2016 and 2017, the Central Okanagan’s population increased by 1.4 per cent, newly released Statistics Canada data shows.

That made the so-called census metropolitan area — which includes West Kelowna, Lake Country and Peachland — the fastest-growing region in the province. Victoria and Abbotsford-Mission each had growth rates of 1.2 per cent.

However, the average growth rate for all of Canada’s 35 most populous urban areas in the past year was 1.5 per cent.

Saskatoon was the fastest-growing city, with a population increase of 2.8 per cent.

Two of the cities on the list — Thunder Bay, Ont., and Saguenay, Que. — experienced slight population declines in the past year.

On the list of the 35 cities, Kelowna’s growth rate now puts it in the middle of the pack, in 16th position, below such cities as Moncton, N.B., and Barrie, Ont.

Between 2006 and 2011, Statistics Canada says, Kelowna’s population grew by more than two per cent annually. The five-year annualized growth rate between 2011 and 2016 declined to 1.7 per cent, which still made the Kelowna area the sixth-fastest-growing region in Canada.