You can forgive the powers that be in Estevan and other municipalities in southeast Saskatchewan if they weren’t eager to see the federal census population numbers that were released last week.
After all, the past two-and-a-half years have not been kind on local economies. Businesses have closed, employees have been laid off and people have migrated out of town, looking for work elsewhere.
Many thought Estevan’s population might be lower than it was five years earlier. Instead, the census showed that the city was home to 11,483 people, as of last spring, a moderate increase from the 11,054 that Statistics Canada said resided here in 2011.
Granted, the 2011 census figure was widely panned by many in the city, who believed that Estevan’s population should have been closer to 12,000 or even 13,000. Many in the community preferred the annual covered population report from eHealth Saskatchewan, which tracks the number of people holding a Saskatchewan Health card in a community, as a better measure of population.
Still, it’s encouraging that the census shows Estevan’s population has remained above the 11,000 mark, and that it didn’t creep towards 10,000 people again.
Also encouraging is that the population of the rural municipality of Estevan was up a couple hundred of people, and now sits comfortably at 1,370 residents. It seems that more people want to enjoy the rural lifestyle, especially on small acreages.
Towns such as Carlyle, Oxbow, Redvers and Midale enjoyed growth, while others, such as Carnduff, Stoughton and Lampman, saw their populations decline.
Five years ago, virtually all municipalities in the southeast saw population increases, but this time, the results were mixed.
The encouraging development from the census is that there wasn’t a mass exodus of residents that some featred. There are fewer people in communities, but that’s largely due to fewer transient workers, who were never counted as residents of Estevan and other communities in the southeast.
It seems to indicate that many who were laid off stayed in their communities. Perhaps they initially thought that the oil price slump would be temporary, and that it would rebound quickly. But eventually they had to find work, and they wanted to stay in Estevan, Carlyle and other communities rather than head elsewhere.
It speaks to the opportunities and the quality of life that is offered in Estevan and elsewhere in the southeast, even during a recession. It shows that these aren’t communities where people come just to work.
So many are happy to be here, and they want to call these communities home.
Now that the price of oil has started to rebound, there is greater optimism in the southeast. People are feeling more confident. And hopefully when the next census is out in five years, it will show our communities are growing again, and that more people are enjoying what this region has to offer.
