The first numbers from the 2016 census reveal significant increases for communities across the Pembina Valley.

Winkler is the fastest growing city in Manitoba.

"Obviously what we're doing is working," Winkler Mayor Martin Harder says. "I believe we're creating a healthy community with steady growth."

Winkler reached 11th of the fastest growing municipalities in Canada (with at least 5,000 inhabitants located outside metropolitan area)

 

The accomplishment will also bode well for attracting future business and lobbying government.

"I believe we have opportunities here to attract businesses that are going to stand up and take notice of the growth rate of Winkler," Harder says.

The city saw 18 percent growth jumping from 10,670 to 12,591 in five years.

Harder notes the city services and infrastructure have kept up with that growth over the past decade.

"We have done extremely well," Harder says. "The amount of new infrastructure that has been built including major expenses... like the library, the police station, the parks, and we have less debt today than ten years ago."

He also attributes the success to the city staff, "there's a lot of effort put in by the staff to provide the extra service we're used to."

Also on the list, Steinbach sits at 15th with 17 percent growth, rising from a population of 13,524 to 15,829.

La Broquerie rounds out the Manitoba communities on the list at 16th, growing from 5,198 to 6,076.

Elsewhere around the region, census stats reveal the R.M. of Dufferin The R.M. of Dufferin saw a 1.7 per cent population growth in just five years. Census numbers indicate forty-one more people moved into the Municipality between 2011 and 2016, rounding out the overall population at 2,435.

Reeve George Gray says these figures are very encouraging, especially when it comes to federal funding.

"I can't remember the actual amount of money that we get for population increase but it certainly helps our bottom line. It's strictly correlated to more people-more money (and) is certainly to our advantage."

Gray adds there are also nine more dwellings within the Municipality that are now paying taxes.

"I think we're positioned very well in the province; close to Winnipeg, Morden and Winkler...and Carman of course. And we have a very aggressive Economic Development Committee led by Tyler King who does a great job for us, encouraging people to move into our area."

Rhineland Municipality saw a healthy 3 per cent increase in its population, reaching a total of 5,945.

"We're very pleased with that kind of growth from our perspective, because we do have situations where people don't retire in Rhineland," said reeve Don Wiebe. "Our demographics are different from other centres, so when we look at 3 per cent growth above the number of people who choose not to retire in the municipality, this becomes a good number for us."

Morden increased its numbers by 856, to a total population of 8,668.

The R.M of Stanley added another 683 sitting at just over 9,000 residents.

A total of 124 more people were added to the populace of Altona according to Stats Canada.

The 2016 census data indicates the town's population has hit 4,212, which is a three per cent increase since 2011.

Deputy mayor Glen Robinson says he thought the increase would be closer to the provincial average of five per cent growth but feels it's the kind of pace that Altona has seen over the past few decades.

"Altona has always been slow and steady," said Robinson. "Three per cent, as far as I'm concerned, is still a good percentage of growth for our area. We've increased by 124 people, that's another 124 people in town."

While Altona has increased its population over the past five years, the numbers represent a decline in growth from the previous census period when an additional 379 people were added to the populace.

Robinson says the town's immigration program will continue to be key in helping to grow the community over the next five years.

While most surrounding municipalities are increasing in population, the reeve for the R.M. of Montcalm says it's disheartening to learn the population in Montcalm went down. The census data released Wednesday indicates the municipality lost 49 residents, a 3.7 % decline in population since 2011.  The population is now 1,260 compared to 1,309, five years ago.

Sabourin says the R.M.'s population decline did come as a surprise.  He notes from 2006 to 2011 more people made Montcalm their home, and he expected the municipality to at least maintain those numbers from 2011 to 2016.

Sabourin notes the population in the L.U.D. of St. Jean actually went up a bit, noting it was in the rural areas where the numbers went down. "With these numbers, we don't know the population breakdowns and things like that.  So that will be even more revealing when those numbers come out."

With this information in hand, Sabourin says council will have to put their heads together to find ways to encourage more people to move into the area, noting their communities have a lot to offer.

Overall, Manitoba saw an increase of about 70,000 inhabitants. The province's population sits at 1,278,365 compared to 1,208,268.

The total population of Canada rose to 35,151,728 from 33,476,688.

 

 


PV CENSUS RESULTS

CITIES AND TOWNS:

2016                    2011
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WINKLER - 12,591               10,670 = 1,921
MORDEN - 8,668            7,812  = 856
CARMAN - 3,164            3,027 = 137
ALTONA - 4,212            4,088 = 124
MORRIS - 1,885            1,797 = 88

RURAL MUNICIPALITIES:

STANLEY - 9,038            8,356 = 682
RHINELAND - 5,945            5,772 = 173
ROLAND - 1,129            1,058 = 171
EMERSON-FRANKLIN - 2,537        2,439 = 98
MORRIS - 3,047            2,999 = 48
THOMPSON - 1,442            1,397 = 45