The Town of Sundre may need to conduct its own population census after recently released Statistics Canada figures showed the town's growth percentage far below that of other area municipalities, says Mayor Annette Clews.
Statistics Canada says Sundre's population increased by 3.4 per cent between 2006 and 2011, rising from 2,523 in 2006 to 2,610 in 2011.
By way of comparison, other towns in Mountain View County reportedly had far higher rates of population growth – Olds by 13.5 per cent, from 7,253 to 8,235; Didsbury by 15.1 per cent, from 4,305 to 4,957; and Carstairs by 27.5 per cent, from 2,699 to 3,442.
With many provincial and federal grant-funding programs based on population, an incorrectly low Sundre figure could end up costing the municipality a great deal, she said.
“To only increase less than 100 in five years, I think the (Sundre) numbers are off and it's a concern,” said Clews. “I think the number is low.
“I wouldn't says it's bad for business, but when it comes to all the per capita funding from the province and federal level it could have a huge impact on our community. We potentially could be losing out on quite a bit of money since all provincial and federal funding is done on a per capita basis.
“So we need to make sure that we are utilizing and getting all of the dollars we are entitled to.”
How much Sundre could be shortchanged would depend on the difference, if any, between the Statistics Canada totals and the actual figures, she said.
Clews says she plans to bring the matter up with town council in the near future.
“It's my intention to talk to council about doing our own census,” she said. “We may have to budget our own census either to reaffirm or make corrections. I don't know if we can find it in our budget this year.
“We may have to task the CAO to find out if we can find the budget to do it this year. If we can find it in the budget I would like to see it happen this year.”
The possible cost of a census conducted by the Town of Sundre is not known at this time, said Wanda Watson-Neufeld, the town's director of corporate services.
Mountain View County was successful in getting Statistics Canada to review the 2006 census numbers for the county.
The town has not conducted its own survey since at least before 1997, she said.
Sundre is the 128th largest community in Alberta, and the 1,113th largest in Canada.
There are now 1,738 private dwellings in Sundre, up from 1,144 in 2006, giving Sundre a population density of 233.9 residents per square kilometre.
