Alberta is proving to be a popular draw for young families and immigrants, recent figures taken for a Statistics Canada report show.
The data shows that the province had the second highest proportion of couples with children living there and the lowest share of one-person households of any Canadian province in 2016. The proportion of couples with children in Alberta was 53.5 per cent, compared to the national average of 51.1 per cent. Only Ontario had a higher proportion.
Meanwhile, only 24 per cent of Albertans live by themselves. This compare to the national average of 28.2 per cent.
“People want more babies in Alberta for some reason,” said Statistics Canada senior analyst Rene Houle. “I think it’s an effect of immigration and other people who go to Alberta for the labour market.”
In terms of immigration, the Alberta cities of Edmonton and Calgary lead the way when it comes to growth in the number of people settling in the province who don’t speak English of French as a first language.
Tagalog (the national language of the Philippines), Punjabi and Cantonese were the three most common immigrant languages. Tagalog saw massive growth in Alberta, increasing by 68.3 per cent from 2011 to 2016.
“Between 2010 and 2015, the Philippines was the main source country to Canada, more than India, more than China,” explained Houle. “This is reflected now in the data and languages, especially in Western Canada.”
Article published 7th August 2017