Kelowna manages to eke out a little bit of population growth

As British Columbia's overall population shrank, Kelowna managed to scrounge 1.8% growth.

"Anecdotally, we've heard that people have moved out of the area for jobs and (housing) affordability," said Krista Mallory, manager of the Central Okanagan Economic Development Commission.

"But, also people are moving here for the lifestyle. When it all settles, we have some moderate population growth, which is understandable given overall slower economic growth and economic and political uncertainty."

BC Statistics estimates metropolitan Kelowna (which is essentially the Central Okanagan, including West Kelowna, Lake Country and Peachland) will hit a population of 261,432 this year, up 1.8% from 2024's 256,729.

That means Kelowna's population growth has slowed by 50% because the population increase from 2023 to 2024 in the city was a brisk 3.87%.

In fact, from 2016-21, Kelowna was the fastest growing census metropolitan area in Canada with a five-year escalation of 14% or an average 2.8% annually.

Mallory calls that kind of ballooning population unsustainable.

And, as a matter of fact, those rapid growth years saw housing become ever more unaffordable and wages stagnate.

That led to a situation where some people not only considered leaving Kelowna and the province for better jobs and pay and cheaper housing, but actually left, mostly for Alberta.

Meantime, Alberta saw the biggest population gains in the second quarter with a gain of 19,268, including 6,200 arrivals from other provinces and a lot of those from BC.

While Kelowna's 1.8% population growth is a bit of a bright spot, the bottom line overall is that people are moving out of British Columbia and couples are hardly having any kids, leading to a dwindling population.

The latest figures from Statistics Canada shows that in the second quarter of this year (April, May and June), the province's net population slipped by 2,100.

That's only a tiny percentage considering that BC's population is 5.7 million.

But, still, it's a concerning trend as the population also protracted a bit in the first quarter and in 2024.

In the second quarter, the numbers break down this way: 14,700 moved out of the province (likely for better jobs and pay and cheaper housing), yet 12,700 immigrants arrived in BC and 1,600 moved here from other provinces.

In the same batch of data released by StatsCan, the BC birth rate is an average 1.02 children per woman, up ever so slightly from 1 in 2023.

That's the lowest in Canada and puts BC in the 'ultra-low' fertility category along with South Korea with .75 children per woman, Singapore at .97, Japan with 1.15, Italy at 1.18 and Finland with 1.25.

Part of the reason for BC's 'ultra-low' fertility rate is some people say it's too expensive to have a child or children in the province with astronomical housing prices and rents and the high cost of living.

The scant birth rate means BC and Canada need immigration to keep the population growing, jobs filled and the economy rolling.