Thunder Bay-area population creeps upward

OTTAWA — Statistics Canada has released updated population estimates for Canada's census metropolitan areas (CMA).

As of July 1, 2020, the federal agency believes the City of Thunder Bay and the immediate surrounding townships had a total population of 126,861.

The Thunder Bay CMA includes the city, Oliver-Paipoonge, Shuniah, Neebing, Conmee, O'Connor, Gillies and the Fort William First Nation.

The population grew by only 0.2 per cent from the 2019 estimate of 126,585.

This was the lowest growth rate among the 35 country's 35 CMAs, but only marginally smaller than Greater Sudbury, the only other CMA in Northern Ontario.

The Sudbury area grew by 0.3 per cent to 172,462.

According to Statistics Canada, the Thunder Bay area has a larger proportion of seniors than the average of Census Metropolitan Areas.

Thunder Bay CMA Population by Age Range

• 0-14 years - 13.9 per cent
• 15-64 years - 65.1 per cent
• 65 and over - 21 per cent

The average percentage of seniors in all CMAs is 16.5 per cent.

The fastest-growing metropolitan centres in Canada last year were Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo (2.8 per cent), London and Ottawa (2.3 per cent each).

Statistics Canada says the arrival of many permanent and temporary immigrants played a key role in the growth of those CMAs.

In a separate report, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation notes that Thunder Bay failed to experience a significant influx of intercity migrants last year, as did some cities in southern Ontario.