The numbers are in and new information from the 2006 census shows Winnipeg has not kept pace with Canada's population growth rate over the last five years — but the rate in the area around the capital is higher.

Statistics Canada released the first data from last year's census on Tuesday and it showed the population of Winnipeg has increased by 2.2 per cent since the 2001 census.

GROWING COMMUNITIES
	2006 population	% change
Winnipeg	633,451	2.2
Brandon	41,511	4.5
Thompson	13,446	1.4
Winkler	9,106	14.6
Morden	6,571	6.7
Gimli	5,797	12.4

During the same five-year time period, Canada's national population increased 5.4 per cent, while the population of Manitoba increased by 2.6 per cent to 1,148,401.

When the census was taken in May 2006 the population of Winnipeg was 633,451 compared with 619,544 in 2001. Manitoba's second-largest city, Brandon, grew by 4.5 per cent to 41,511.

Winnipeg is the eighth-largest metropolitan area in Canada, behind Quebec City and just barely ahead of Hamilton.

Capital region growth

While Winnipeg's growth rate was below the national average, several rural municipalities in the capital region — sometimes called the "exurbs" or "bedroom communities" — outpaced the city's growth.

In the R.M. of Headingley, just west of Winnipeg, the population leaped almost 43 per cent to 2,796. 

The R.M. of East St. Paul saw an increase of 13.9 per cent, while the municipalities of West St. Paul, Springfield, Taché, St. François-Xavier and Macdonald increased around six per cent. 

The town of Steinbach, southeast of Winnipeg, is experiencing a population boom, with a growth rate of almost 20 per cent. Almost 2,000 new people were counted in the community in 2006, bringing the total population to 11,066.

To the city's northwest, Stonewall increased its size by 9.1 per cent. Winker (14.6 per cent) and Gimli (12.4 per cent) also experienced big increases in population.

Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz says there's a simple explanation for the difference in urban and exurban growth: Tax rates are lower outside the city.

"I don't think that's an anomaly when you consider the fact that taxes are one-third, OK? I think it's very obvious what's been going on there," he said.

"That's because we didn't have a proper plan way back when. We're trying to change that right now."

Katz hopes the playing field will be levelled as people living in bedroom communities demand better services and their local governments start raising taxes and paying Winnipeg to provide them.

SHRINKING COMMUNITIES
	2006 population	% change
Portage la Prairie	12,728	-1.9
Selkirk	9,515	-2.4
Flin Flon (part)	5,594	-6.8
Neepawa	3,298	-0.8
The Pas	5,589	-3.6
Churchill	923	-4.2

Other communities showed losses, including Portage la Prairie, which shrunk by 1.9 per cent to 12,728 and Dauphin, which counted almost 1,000 fewer people, a loss of 2.2 per cent.

In the northern town of Leaf Rapids, where officials expected to see an exodus after the local copper and zinc mine closed in the spring of 2002, the population fell 58.8 per cent to 539.

Immigration fuels population growth

Manitoba Immigration Minister Nancy Allan said the province ranks fifth overall in terms of population growth, largely due to the success of the provincial nominee program to attract skilled immigrants.

Sixty per cent of all provincial nominees that come to Canada settle in Manitoba, Allan said, and a third of them head to rural communities in the province, fuelling the growth of communities such as Steinbach and Winkler.

"We're the only jurisdiction in Canada that has that kind of growth, and it's very, very exciting, particularly for those rural communities," she said.

"That's what really helps us grow our province and grow our economy. We just don't want to have population growth that benefits our urban centres; it's important to grow all of Manitoba."

Allan says the provincial government will next focus on the North, which has not seen much in the way of population growth.

Allan estimated that by 2025 population growth in Manitoba will depend solely on immigration. 

Alberta booming

The census indicates booming Alberta had the highest growth rate among all provinces — its 10.6 per cent population gain attributed mostly to the influx of people from other parts of Canada who have gone there to work in the oil business. The provinces that experienced loss in population were Newfoundland and Labrador (-1.5 per cent) and Saskatchewan (-1.1 per cent).

Canada's population as of census day 2006 was 31,612,897, Statistics Canada reported.

Ontario remains the most populous Canadian province or territory, with a population of 12,160,282. Prince Edward Island has the fewest people of the provinces, at 135,851, while Nunavut is the least populous territory, with 29,474.

The census is conducted every five years by Statistics Canada and is based on information filled out by Canadians on census day on May 16, 2006.

The information released Tuesday is the first in a series of census data that will be released periodically over the next 15 months.

Future data will give demographic breakdowns on dozens of topics, including age, sex, marital status, language, ethnic origin, education and income.

With files from the Canadian Press