Kelowna grew at the fastest rate among all of Canada’s big cities between 2016 and 2021, census figures released today reveal.
The city and its surrounding area grew 14 per cent – from a population of 194,892 to 222,162 – over the five-year period.
After Chiliwack, which grew 12.1 per cent, the next-most rapidly expanding census metropolitan area was Kamloops.
Its population grew 10 per cent – from 103,811 in 2016 to 114,142 – according to Statistics Canada.
Another British Columbia city, Nanaimo, came in fifth in the rankings with 10 per cent growth.
Victoria grew at 8 per cent – from 367,770 to 397,237.
Squamish, meanwhile, topped the growth charts in a separate category, among small (10,000–100,000 people) urban areas.
Other BC settlements to chart significant growth include:
Salmon Arm: 10.1 per cent (17,904 to 19,705)
Vernon: 9.4 per cent (61,324 to 67,086)
Penticton: 8.8 per cent (43,534 to 47,380)
Prince George: 3.3 per cent (86,622 to 89,490)
In Dawson Creek, however, the population shrank – from 18,890 to 17,878 (-5.4 per cent).
BC overall grew at 7.6 per cent – from 4,648,055 to 5,000,879.
Only one province – Prince Edward Island – saw higher growth (8 per cent), while Yukon also grew at a faster rate (12.1 per cent).
Canada as a whole grew by 5.2 per cent between 2016 and 2021, bringing the population up to 36.99 million.
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