The good news for the territorial government’s plan to grow the population by 2,000 people is that over the past year, the goal appeared to within sight.
Alas, it was a chimera.
According to the latest data from Statistics Canada released this week, 2,191 people moved to the territory between October 2013 and October 2014. The bad news is that 2,806 packed up and left.
On the plus side of the ledger, there were more births than deaths – score 696 for the stork to 199 for the reaper.
The result of all the coming and going and birthing and dying was a net population loss of .1 per cent, or 35 people.
According to the Statistics Canada scorecard, the territory’s population was at its peak – 43,933 in January, and fell to 43,623 in July, possibly driven by resolutions to leave made in the cold, dark months of winter.
