Census 2016: Manitoba growth above national average for first time in 80 years

Feb 8, 2017 | 5:00 AM

OTTAWA — For the first time in almost three generations, Manitobans can say their province has grown faster than the national average.

Census data released Wednesday shows that Manitoba’s population grew by 5.8 per cent between 2011 and 2016, bettering the growth rate recorded in the 2011 census and pushing the province’s population to almost 1.28 million.

Laurent Martel, Statistics Canada’s director of demography, says the province has substantially increased its immigration levels over the last five years, in much the same way neighbouring Saskatchewan did leading up to the 2011 population count.

Among the new immigrants is Jappreet Sekhon.

Sekhon was 17-years-old when she left her family in India and moved to Winnipeg in January 2011 as an international student who wanted to be a paramedic.

“At that time, there was not much opportunity for women, so I thought I wanted to explore. And my parents were very supportive, at that age, to let me go,” Sekhon told The Canadian Press.

She was among a group of eight students who made the journey.

“We all decided that we want to stay here, we want to have a better future, we want to work for Winnipeg for the paramedic department,” she said.

But it was complicated because they discovered they had to be permanent residents in order to become licensed paramedics.

Sekhon, now 23, says Immigrant Centre Manitoba Inc. helped them work through the process to become permanent residents in 2014.

Immigration has driven change in other provinces too, but maintaining the growth is another question.

Prince Edward Island increased immigration, helping to push its population growth rate to 3.2 per cent in 2011.

But keeping those levels sustained by encouraging recent immigrants to remain on the island has proven a challenge; the rate dropped to 1.9 per cent for the 2011-2016 census period.

Laurent said Saskatchewan has remained fairly successful at maintaining and building on its gains from the last census cycle, showing a growth rate of 6.3 per cent, compared with 6.7 per cent in 2011.

“Saskatchewan was in the same position as Manitoba is this time around, and the rate of growth in Saskatchewan remained fairly high this time around,” he said.

“So in Saskatchewan the story was the immigrants went there and probably they stayed there and they are still are attracting a lot of immigrants. Manitoba might be the same story in five years from now.”

Sekhon changed her mind about becoming a paramedic. She now works helping other newcomers to Canada.

Sekhon said she hopes to go back to school next year to study political science or sociology.

She has gone back to India for visits, but misses Canada when she does.

“For me, a month going back to my country, with my own parents, it was like ‘Oh, a month is a long time. I want to go back (to Canada).’ So when I came back, you know how you feel like OK, you’re home now? So that’s how I was feeling when I came back from India,” she said.

“Now, every time I go, it’s like at the end, my home is Canada, my home is Winnipeg.”

— With files from Jennifer Graham in Regina

The Canadian Press