The population of the North Thompson Valley has, at best, held its own over the past five years, according to the 2016 Census.
In the case of Area B (Thompson Headwaters), which includes Blue River and Avola, there has been quite a noticeable drop.
According to recently released figures from Statistics Canada, the population of District of Clearwater was 2,324 in 2016, down 0.3 per cent from the 2011 population of 2,331.
The population of Thompson-Nicola Regional District Area A (Wells Gray Country), which includes Vavenby, Upper Clearwater, Blackpool and East Blackpool, was 1,493 in 2016. This is down 2.8 per cent from the 2011 figure of 1,536.
For Area B, the 2016 population was 233, down by 17.7 per cent from 283 in 2011.
Moving south, the 2016 population of Area O (Lower North Thompson), which includes Little Fort and the area around Barriere, but not Barriere itself, was 1,323 in 2016. This is down 0.9 per cent from the 2011 population of 1,335.
District of Barriere’s population was 1,713 in 2016, down by 3.4 per cent from the 2011 count of 1,773.
Canada’s 2016 census was conducted in May of last year.
It showed that British Columbia’s population has grown by 5.6 per cent over the past five years to a total of 4.6 million people.
Canada’s population, meanwhile, has grown to over 35 million, with the bulk of the five-per-cent growth attributed to immigrants.
As of 2016, 13.6 per cent of Canadians lived in B.C., leaving this province the third largest in the country.
Statistics Canada released the population and dwelling counts from the census on Feb. 8. Numbers for age and sex, as well as type of dwelling, will be released on May 3. Other results will be released periodically over the year.
The response rate of the 2016 census was 98.4 per cent, which apparently would make it the best ever since the 1666 census of New France, when Intendant Jean Talon did the count largely by himself, door-to-door.