Canada as a snapshot as of May 16, 2006

Canada's population grew faster than that of any other G-8 country. The increase is attributed to immigration rather than increased births.

- Alberta leads all provinces in growth with a 10.6 per cent increase, double the national average. 10 per cent of all Canadians now call Alberta home and Alberta's population surpassed three million for the first time. The population of Calgary and Edmonton exceeded one million for the first time, bringing the total number of Canadian cities with populations more than one million to six. Calgary's population grew by 13.4 per cent. Edmonton grew by more than 10 per cent.

- The total population of the three northern territories surpassed 100,000 for the first time.
- Prince Edward Island saw a slight increase in population of 0.4 per cent. Nova Scotia's population was up 0.6 per cent, while New Brunswick's was virtually unchanged, with an increase of 499 people. Newfoundland lost population for the third consecutive census but at a slower rate than 2001.

- Quebec saw increases in both births and immigration. Combined with fewer people moving away, this resulted in a growth rate three times higher than recorded in the last census at 4.3 per cent.

- Ontario was the only other province to record a growth rate higher than the national average at 6.6 per cent.

- Half of all immigrants to Canada between 2001 and 2006 settled in Ontario.

- Manitoba saw a slight increase in population, attributed to immigration.

- Saskatchewan's population continued to decline by 1.1 per cent due to significant migration. The province had the highest fertility rate in Canada with an average of 1.9 children per woman.

- After recording growth larger than the national average since 1871, British Columbia's growth fell just short at 5.3 per cent. But British Columbia surpassed four million people for the first time.

- The Vancouver CMA population passed two million, half the population of the province.

- Canadians living in an urban centre of 10,000 or more: Almost 25 million, or 80 per cent of the total population.

- Six new census metropolitan areas (CMA), defined as cities over 100,000 population, were identified in the 2006 census: Barrie, Guelph, Brantford and Peterborough in Ontario, Moncton N.B., and Kelowna.

- Number of Canadians living in the 33 CMAs: 21.5 million, or 68 per cent of the national population.

- 90 per cent of the new population since the 2001 census live in a CMA.

- 14.1 million people live in six metro areas: Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa-Gatineau, Calgary and Edmonton.

- New CMA Barrie, Ont., grew by almost 20 per cent and was the fastest growing CMA.

- The only CMAs to decline were Saint John, N.B. and Saguenay, Que.

- Half of all Canadians live in Montreal, Vancouver and southeastern Ontario.

- Half of Quebec's population lives in the Montreal CMA, which encompasses almost 100 municipalities.

- The golden horseshoe in Ontario extends from Peterborough to London and around to St. Catharines. Eight million people, a quarter of Canada's population, live there. The population grew by 630,000 or 8.4 per cent from 2001 to 2006.

- The shift out of urban cores to suburban populations identified in 2001 continued. The population of peripheral municipalities in CMAs grew more than 11 per cent, often along transportation routes.

- Mid-size urban centres -- cities larger than 10,000 people and not included in a CMA -- shrank from 113 to 111. Gander and Labrador City in Newfoundland and Labrador and Haileybury in Ontario were demoted.

- Okotoks, Alta., grew by 46 per cent since 2001, the fastest growing mid-size city in Canada.

- 61/2 of the 10 fastest-growing mid-size cities are in Alberta (Lloydminster, which crosses the Alberta-Saskatchewan boundary, being the half).

- The top five mid-sized cities with the fastest declines are all in northern B.C. in a region dependent on the forestry industry.

- Percentage of rural/small town population that commutes to a large urban centre to work: 30 per cent.

- 20 of the 25 fastest growing small towns/rural communities are located within 50 kilometres of a CMA.

- After showing a slight decline in 2001, Canada's small towns and rural areas grew by about one per cent.

- The fastest-growing small town is Sylvan Lake, Alta., with a 36.1 per cent increase in population since 2001. This after growing by 44.5 per cent from 1996 to 2001.

- Nine of the 25 fastest-growing small towns are in Quebec, north of Montreal, and in the Laurentians.

- Crowsnest Pass, Alta., and Marystown, N.L., lost the most population in the small town category. They each lost more than eight per cent of their population.

- Nearly half of the population of the three territories lives in the three capitals.

- The census counted 12,435,520 occupied private dwellings, an increase of 7.5 per cent.

- Close to half of respondents declined to have their information made publicly available in 92 years.

BY THE PROVINCE

Population rankings

Ontario 12,160,282

Quebec 7,546,131

British Columbia 4,113,487

Alberta 3,290,350

Manitoba 1,148,401

Saskatchewan 968,157

Nova Scotia 913,462

New Brunswick 729,997

Newfoundland and Labrador 505,469

Prince Edward Island 135,851

Northwest Territories 41,464

Yukon 30,372

Nunavut 29,474

Canada 31,612,897

SMALL CITY BOOMS AND BUSTS

Growing small towns with percentage change

1. Sylvan Lake, Alta. 36.1%

2. Strathmore, Alta. 34.2%

3. Stanley, Man. 24.3%

4. Prevost Que. 22.4%

5. Shelburne, Ont. 22.2%

6. Chertsey, Que. 21.7%

7. Wasaga Beach, Ont. 21.0%

8. Galway-Cavendish and Harvey, Ont. 20.9%

9. Nanaimo, B.C. 20.4%

10. Lakeland County, Alta. 20.0%

Shrinking towns with percentage change

1. Crowsnest Pass, Alta. -8.2%

2. Marystown, N.L. -8.0%

3. Kapuskasing, Ont. -7.9%

4. Kenora (unorganized), Ont. -7.7%

5. Stephenville. NL. -7.3%

6. Bulkley-Nechako A, B.C. -7.1%

7. Inverness sub. B, N.S. -6.9%

8. Flin Flon, Man. -6.8%

9. Melfort, Sask. -6.6%

10. Labrador City, N.L. -6.5%

10. Algoma North, Ont. -6.5%

(Compiled by Kirsten Smith, CanWest News Service)