People flock to Saskatoon

The population of Saskatoon proper has increased by its highest rate in more than two decades, jumping by 5,000 people this year to 218,000, according to the city's latest estimate.

"It's a significant number," said Randy Grauer, manager of the city's planning and development branch. "It's a very big jump. But it's something we've expected to see, not something that's taken us by surprise."

The numbers come from the city's bi-annual population update, which is done at the end of December and June each year.

The city rejigged its calculation method this year to provide a more accurate number based on a percentage of the population of Saskatoon's metropolitan area, which includes surrounding towns. In previous years, the city had used somewhat outdated information from the census.

Using the new method, the city's population grew from an estimated 213,000 at the end of June last year to 218,000 this year, said Bill Holden, manager of the city's research and information resource centre.

The city's population has been growing for the last three years at a rate not seen in at least two decades, driven primarily by interprovincial migration and international immigration, Holden said.

That bucks the long-held trend where most of the city's growth was driven by movement to the cities from rural Saskatchewan. Now, many towns are seeing their own renaissance, Holden said.

"We haven't seen a number like that or estimated any number like that since back in the '80s," he said. "We're seeing more Ontario licence plates."

The growth is driven by a large number of immigrants moving to Saskatoon from abroad and across Canada, primarily to reunite with their family through an expedited sponsorship program, said Mayor Don Atchison.

The growing number of newcomers is prompting the City of Saskatoon to begin to investigate the possibility of a 311 municipal services line to make finding services at the city simpler, Atchison said.

"It's something we need to work towards and start looking at very shortly," he said.

- David Hutton - Saskatoon Star Phoenix