Population of city grows 2.9% to 81,032

Peterborough city’s population grew by 2.9 per cent to 81,032 in 2016 from 78,777 in 2011, according to census figures released Wednesday by Statistics Canada.

Peterborough County’s population also grew by 1.9 per cent to 57,204 in 2016 from 56,151 in 2011.

That means the total Peterborough city and county population was 138,236 in 2016, up 2.5 per cent from 134,928 in 2011.

Joe Taylor, the warden of Peterborough County, said he found it “encouraging” that the county’s population grew.

“To stay stagnant is to lose ground – we can’t do that,” he said. “We must continue to grow.”

Perhaps, and yet the city and county’s growth was less than the provincial average of 4.6 per cent.

Peterborough city and county also failed to keep up with some smaller neighbouring municipalities, growth-wise.

The population of the City of Kawartha Lakes (Lindsay and the former Victoria County) grew by 3 per cent to 75,423 in 2016 from 73,219 in 2011.

Northumberland County grew by 4.2 per cent to 85,598 in 2016 from 82,126 in 2011.

Even Haliburton County grew by 5.9 per cent to 18,062 in 2016 from 17,056 in 2011.

Peterborough Mayor Daryl Bennett wasn’t available for comment Wednesday.

Growth is limited in the city at the same time as Peterborough lacks serviced lands to build on.

Garnet Northey is president of Peterborough and the Kawarthas Home Builders Association, which has more than 100 members.

He also owns Spotlight Home and Lifestyle, a design, renovation and building firm.

Northey said the only developer he knows of who is building in the city now is Mason Homes, which is working on a subdivision on Chemong Rd.

“We’ve got no new serviced land to build on this year,” he said.

It means local developers are building outside Peterborough, at the moment – Northey said they are building in Norwood, Millbrook and even Courtice, for example.

Northey expects there to be more available lots next year. In the meantime, he has never seen such a shortage of land in Peterborough: “Typically we see more (land).”

The census says there are 57,745 private homes in Peterborough city and county (that includes houses, rowhouses, semi-detached houses and apartments.)

In the city of Peterborough alone, there are 20,135 single-detached houses. Add the county, and that figure climbs to 41,750 houses.

In terms of demographics, Peterborough city and county still ranks among the top four cities in Canada for its percentage of older citizens. (The other three cities are Kelowna, B.C., Victoria, B.C. and the Niagara region.)

The data shows roughly 22.8 per cent of Peterborough and county’s population is aged 65 and older – or 31,550 people, in the city and county.

That proportion is just slightly higher than Niagara, for instance, where roughly 21 per cent of the population is aged 65 or older.

If you have the impression people are living longer than ever – they are. There are 55 people in the city and county who are 100 years or older. Of those, the census says 50 are women.