By Spencer Sterritt

Nearly 7k more people in Nanaimo, outpaces provincial growth

Feb 9, 2017 | 3:08 PM

 NANAIMO — In the last five years, Nanaimo has managed to surpass the rest of the country in bringing people to the city.

From 2011 to 2016, almost 7,000 people came to Nanaimo, boosting the population from 83,800 to 90,500. It’s an eight per cent change, compared to the five per cent increase across the country and B.C.’s 5.6 per cent rise.

Amrit Manhas, an economic development officer with the City, said this makes Nanaimo the fifth largest urban centre in the province with nearly seven per cent of B.C.’s population.

“What that means is we’re an attractive community as a place to live, a place to work and a place to invest,” she said.

Nanaimo’s “talented work force, extraordinary beauty, amazing lifestyle and first-rate infrastructure” were touted as reasons for the strong increase.

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Further information will be released by Statistics Canada, such as the age, gender and nationality of residents. Manhas said they’re eager to see the diversity of Nanaimo’s population because “diversity is a factor that’s important for growth and for cities to become successful.”

Looking to the future, Manhas said projections show Nanaimo will continue to “punch above its own weight” in terms of drawing people to the city.

On a larger scale, nearly 156,000 people now call the Nanaimo Regional District home, which is a 6.2 per cent increase.

Here’s a breakdown of all the regions:

Community, 2016 pop., % change

• Nanaimo, 90.5k, 8%
• Parksville, 12.5k, 4.5%
• Qualicum Beach, 9k, 2.9%
• Ladysmith, 8.5k, 7.8%
• Duncan, 5k, 0.2%
• Lake Cowichan, 32.k, 8.5%
• North Cowichan, 29.5k, 3.0%
• Port Hardy, 4.1k, 3.1%

Spencer.sterritt@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @spencer_Sterrit