Paltry population growth in SD&G

(Newswatch Group/Bill Kingston, File)

SD&G – The City of Cornwall and the six townships of SD&G either saw a slight increase in their populations over of the last five years or lost people altogether.

That’s according to the first round of census data released Wednesday by Statistics Canada.

The City of Cornwall grew by a paltry 249 people over the last five years.

Cornwall’s population was 46,589 in 2016 compared to 46,340 during the 2011 census – a population change of 0.5 per cent.

In comparison, the population in Canada grew five per cent since 2011 – the fastest growing country in the G7. Ontario’s population grew by 4.6 per cent to 13.4 million people.

As for the townships, South Stormont had the largest population growth at 3.9 per cent to 13,110, South Dundas increased 0.4 per cent to 10,833, North Dundas was up 0.5 per cent to a population of 11,278 and North Stormont increased 1.4 per cent to 6,873.

But Glengarry County suffered from out-migration.

In North Glengarry, 142 people left the township. The 2016 census data shows there were 10,109 residents, compared to 10,251 in 2011.

In South Glengarry, the population was 13,150 compared to 13,162 in 2011 – a loss of 0.1 per cent.

This 2016 census did capture data for Akwesasne. The two census subdivision – the formal Indian reserve and Part 59 – show a population of 1,202 in the reserve and 1,487 in Part 59. No data was available in 2011.

As for Canada, the country was home to 35.15 million people and more people are living in urban centers. Almost one-third of Canadians live in Western Canada. Most of the growth in the provinces came from new immigrants.

The next set of census data will be released May 3 when we will get details on age, sex and types of homes people are living in.