News   Apr 03, 2020
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Edmonton's Population

I agree. I am a believer in statistics, but you have to really understand what they are saying and not misrepresent them.

For instance, in this case it appears the measure is growth. I suppose it is possible, but I doubt more actual people are moving to North Bay than say much bigger places like Quebec City or Calgary. If the measure is growth, a place that had 110 moves to it (vs. 100 in the prior period) would come out ahead of a place that 120 moves to it (vs 115) in the previous period because of the higher growth rate. Yet the latter place would actually have more actual people moving to it. .

Sure, it is valid to look at momentum, but it can also be a fickle thing. You can see that in the brackets, some cities that were higher before (Vancouver at 23 vs. 7) are much lower now. There can be a quite a bit of turn over from period to period using this measure.

Also interestingly, neither of Canada's two largest cities show up in this list. However, I am happy to see Owen Sound on the list. It is a long way from Toronto, but it is a very nice place, seems about the size of Spruce Grove/Stony Plain and has been around that size for a long time.
Just to add more context, they explain how it is calculated here.

"U-Haul growth cities are calculated by the net gain of one-way U-Haul trucks (i.e. moving vans ranging in size from 10 to 26 feet) arriving in a city versus departing from that city in a calendar year. [...] People coming to North Bay in one-way U-Haul trucks increased 20% in 2020, while departures rose only 3% year-over-year. Arrivals accounted for 57.5% of all one-way U-Haul traffic in North Bay, which ranked fifth for growth in 2019."

I agree with you overall 100%, but I do wonder what the actual numbers look like between Calgary and Edmonton in particular. This alone doesn't make me concerned about Edmonton falling behind Calgary, it just makes me curious about seeing the whole picture.
 
Silly to overlook actual population data (i.e STATISTICS CANADA) in favour of ..u-hauls?? Do I really need to explain this? ...
I don't think it's a matter of overlooking the federal data. The latest federal census is from 2016; the 2021 results are to be released over the course of the next year or so. Before then, it doesn't hurt to look for indicators that might give us a hint of trends which occurred between 2016-now!
 
I don't think it's a matter of overlooking the federal data. The latest federal census is from 2016; the 2021 results are to be released over the course of the next year or so. Before then, it doesn't hurt to look for indicators that might give us a hint of trends which occurred between 2016-now!
In the meantime, there is other census data, such as municipal and estimates made based on various information, so its not like a total vacuum.

I understand why U Haul does this, they need to know the trends to allocate and plan for placement of their stock. That is a very valid use of the data and it is not that this information is meaningless, but you do have to take it with a grain of salt if you extrapolate beyond the original purpose.

Again, another very simple numeric example to show how this can easily lead to the wrong conclusions. For instance in 2020 City A has 10 people move to it and 100 in 2021, City B has 100 people move to it in 2020 and in 2021 has 200. City A would have more growth percentage wise, but City B actually has more people moving there in both years (and a higher actual growth rate if both are the same size). A city with a bad year then a good year could rank ahead of a more consistent city in year two because of the growth in the second year.
 
Interesting information. Edmonton had the highest retention rate for economic immigrants.
Allard, who immigrated to Canada from the Philippines more than 50 years ago, said some of the people she serves move out-of-province, only to return to Edmonton after a few months, saying they feel more accepted in the city.

But this line, They really need to work on this.
Though most immigrants stay put in Edmonton, she said the biggest reason for leaving is foreign credentials not being recognized in Alberta.
 
Interesting information. Edmonton had the highest retention rate for economic immigrants.
Allard, who immigrated to Canada from the Philippines more than 50 years ago, said some of the people she serves move out-of-province, only to return to Edmonton after a few months, saying they feel more accepted in the city.

But this line, They really need to work on this.
Though most immigrants stay put in Edmonton, she said the biggest reason for leaving is foreign credentials not being recognized in Alberta.
This is true for many new immigrants to Edmonton. In my case, after our family moved to Canada, we first moved to Montreal and stayed there for 4 years but then decided to move to Edmonton. And I've been living here for 20 years now. At one point I left the city and the province for a while, but I decided to come back to Edmonton.

And yes, if foreign credentials were more recognized in Alberta, more new immigrants would stay here
 
This is true for many new immigrants to Edmonton. In my case, after our family moved to Canada, we first moved to Montreal and stayed there for 4 years but then decided to move to Edmonton. And I've been living here for 20 years now. At one point I left the city and the province for a while, but I decided to come back to Edmonton.

And yes, if foreign credentials were more recognized in Alberta, more new immigrants would stay here
I can speak from experience to this issue. Ingot lucky and met people who don't care, but took me years and, were not for my wife being stuck with her PhD here, I would've left for Ontario.
 
Speaking of credentials and diversifying the economy....

Not a big fan of the UCP but on news like this I have to applaud them
 
Speaking of credentials and diversifying the economy....

Not a big fan of the UCP but on news like this I have to applaud them
Let’s hope it is beneficial to Edmonton and Calgary equally
 
Speaking of credentials and diversifying the economy....

Not a big fan of the UCP but on news like this I have to applaud them

It certainly is a positive step but the following still needs to be mentioned and addressed:

In a statement Thursday, NDP labour critic Christina Gray criticized the current government for cutting an NDP program announced in 2018 that aimed to add 3,000 technology-related post-secondary slots over five years.

“While the announcement today that Alberta’s technology companies will have more options to recruit overseas talent is welcome news, it is not a silver-bullet solution to the challenges we face in ensuring we have the skills we need to generate growth in emerging industries,” she said.

“Through prior failures, the UCP has actively damaged opportunities for Albertans to succeed in our important high-tech industry.”
 
These are 2021 preliminary Census Metropolitan Area population numbers. Apparently official numbers should be out in Q1 2022. (I took these from a post on the Calgary site)

1) Toronto - 6,572,524
2) Montréal - 4,342,213
3) Vancouver - 2,773,148
4) Calgary - 1,559,284
5) Edmonton - 1,480,754
6) Ottawa - 1,476,756
7) Winnipeg - 852,778
8) Quebec- 836,837
9) Hamilton - 812,528
10) Kitchener - 600,304
11) London - 556,397
12) Halifax - 460,274
13) St. Catharines - Niagara - 439,777
14) Oshawa - 434,736
15) Victoria - 415,573
16) Windsor - 351,116
17) Saskatoon - 340,086
18) Regina - 263,659
19) Kelowna - 229,400
20) Sherbrooke - 227,403


Growth in percentages of the large 6 metros

1. Toronto - 6,572,524 (0.2%)
2. Montreal - 4,342,213 (-0.6%)
3. Vancouver - 2,773,148 (1.0%)
4. Calgary - 1,559,284 (0.9%)
5. Edmonton - 1,480,754 (0.9%)
6. Ottawa-Gatineau - 1,476,756 (0.8%)

Growth (or loss) in actual numbers of the top 10 metros

1- Vancouver 26,667
2 - Tor 15,924
3 - Cgy 14,467
4 - Edm 12,611
5 - Ott 12,162
6 - Kit 5,977
7 - Ham 5,375
8 - Que 4,514
9 - Win 1,567
10 - Mon (25,212)
 
Looks like Covid threw a wrench in things didn't quite make it to that 1.5 million point as of July 1, 2021. I do believe as of Jan. 2022 we would have exceeded 1.5 million, things are booming out there. I guess we'll see the census results next, and then further estimates from Stats Can. Edmonton, Ottawa, and Calgary are really neck and neck, but (for the first time in forever?) Edmonton is clearly out ahead of Ottawa.
 

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