Jump for joy folks.

The first installment of 2006 Canadian Census has been released. It includes only population and dwelling counts for the entire nation.

If you’re a planning nerd like me, you will realize the excitement of getting to use an updated set of data of the nation’s most expansive survey. Census information is a pivotal source for research and decision making tool.

Here’s some highlights from the Star:

• Population growth:
  • By Province:
    • Ontario and Alberta is responsible for two-thirds of all population growth.
    
    
    • Quebec and BC is reponsible for the most of the remaining one-third of population growth
    
    
    • Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador were the only two provinces with a population decrease
    
    
  • By Municipality
    • Milton led the nation in growth - 71% since the 2001 Census.
    
    
    • Brampton, Vaughan, and Whitby are the other Ontario municipalities in the top 10
    
    
  • By Census Metropolitan Area
    • Toronto CMA grew 9.2% to 5,113,149 since 2001
    
    
    • Kitchener CMA just missed the top ten in population, which grew 8.6% to 451,235 since 2001
    
    
    • Calgary and Edmonton CMA’s grew the fastest at 13.4% and 10.4% respectively.
      
      • Both CMA’s reached the 1,000,000 mark during two census studies.
• Immigration and the world:
  • Canada had the highest growth rate (5.4%) of all G8 countries, followed by the US (5.0%) and Italy (3.1%).
    • While Canada’s fertilty rate is lower than the US, we experienced much greater population growth due to immigration.
  • CBC reports that immigration could become the only source for population growth by 2030, when the peak of the baby boomers born in the 1950s and early ’60s reach the end of their lifespans