B.C. Interior mayors wonder why StatsCan says their municipalities have shrunk

The mayors of two small communities in B.C.'s Interior say they were shocked to find Statistics Canada recorded their populations as having decreased in the latest census, which they say must be an error, and they hope the error is fixed before it impacts their ability to access services and funding.

According to the census database, the population of Clinton, about 150 kilometres west of Kamloops, has dropped 11 per cent from 641 people in 2016 to 568 in 2021, after a slight increase of one per cent from 2011 to 2016.

The population of Silverton, which sits on the eastern shore of Slocan Lake in the West Kootenay region, has shrunk even further — by nearly 24 per cent, from 195 people in 2016 to 149 in 2021, while there was no change to the number of people recorded between 2011 and 2016.

"For a community of our size to lose 73 individuals, I think we would notice, and that's not reflecting what we're seeing here on the ground," Clinton mayor Susan Swan told host Shelley Joyce on CBC's Daybreak Kamloops.

"I don't know if people just didn't do the census or some homes were missed," Swan said.

"With the number of young families moving in, it just doesn't jibe with me — it doesn't sound right."

Silverton mayor Colin Ferguson also says the sudden drop in his village's population doesn't make sense, as anecdotal evidence suggests more people have moved in from the Lower Mainland and Alberta over the past five years.

"This is a beautiful village, and people are moving here from all over the province," Ferguson said. "Where these numbers came from is a mystery to us."

Both mayors say they're concerned the population undercounts may affect the amount of grants they could receive from provincial and regional authorities in the future, which are typically based on population counts.

Previous miscounts corrected

In an email statement, Statistics Canada told CBC News that it has received requests in the past to review the population counts of 201 municipalities and communities across the country for the 2016 census.

Among those B.C. municipalities for which population counts in 2016 were revised are Slocan, about 28 kilometres south of Silverton, and Fernie, about 340 kilometres east of Silverton.

Slocan, currently inhabited by 379 people according to the 2021 census, was initially reported to experience an eight per cent drop in population, from 296 in 2011 to 272 in 2016.

But Statistics Canada later discovered there was less of a drop than initially counted, and subsequently changed the 2016 census count to 289.

Fernie's population has been growing steadily over the past decade, from 4,448 in 2011 to 6,320 in 2021. But its population in 2016 was undercounted as 5,249, later revised as 5,396.

Statistics Canada says it normally receives review requests from local or provincial authorities, but it also accepts requests from anyone living in Canada. The agency says while it's difficult to estimate the amount of time required, it expects to complete all the reviews by the summer of 2023.

The agency adds that it won't send questionnaires or enumerators again to the municipality during the review process.

Meanwhile, both Clinton and Silverton say they will consider submitting a review request to Statistics Canada.