Courtesy of Invest Barrie Newsletter
Statistics Canada: Barrie 5th Fastest Growing CMA in Ontario
On Wednesday February 8th, Statistics Canada released their latest numbers for population and dwelling counts from the 2011 census. Canada as a whole has a higher growth rate than any other G8 country with a current population of 33.5 million. Ontario did not experience the same population growth as other parts of the country and wasn’t able to attract as many new residents. Ontario posted its lowest rate of population growth at 5.7% since 1986. One factor driving this movement, cited in the Stats Can report, is the 2008 global recession. Although one can’t attribute everything to the economy, large demographic shifts often have economic factors involved and Ontario’s economic sectors took a hard hit in the economic down turn.
Barrie has the 5th fastest growing CMA in Ontario with a growth rate of 5.6%. Back in 1996-2001 Barrie led population growth with 25.1% and in 2001-2006 Barrie experienced a 19.2% increase. Although Barrie is not growing anywhere near as quickly as it did in the past, “this is good”, states Mayor Lehman. “Barrie grew so quickly in the late 90s and early part of the last decade that we could not keep up with the demand for growth-our shortage of family doctors, our traffic issues in the south end, our backlog of road repairs are symptoms of growth that was just too fast.” Despite the drop in the growth rate, more than 10000 people have still moved into the area. A more sustainable growth rate allows the city to keep up with the services being provided while still contributing to a growing labour base for manufacturers and more customers for Barrie businesses.
