Frontenac_county

Jeff Green | Mar 15, 2007

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Frontenac County growing faster than the provincial averagebyJeffGreen

Census data released this week shows population growth in Frontenac County of 8.9%, as compared to a 6.6% growth in all of Ontario.

The bulk of the population growth came in South Frontenac, which now has 18,227 permanent residents, up 11% from the 2001 Census.

Growth has been slower elsewhere in the county. In North Frontenac, there are now 1,904 permanent residents, up 5.7% from 2001. Central Frontenac has only grown by 2.4% to 4,665.

Frontenac Islands has seen the largest percentage increase, 13.7%, with a total of 1,862 permanent residents.

Census data does not account for seasonal residents, which makes the numbers limiting in regions with high numbers of summer cottagers, such as Frontenac County. This is most acute in a township like North Frontenac, which sees its population swell to over 9,000 in the summer months, while less than 2,000 live in the township on a year round basis.

In general, the census shows the country has continued to become more urbanized. In 1901, 37% of Canadians lived in urban areas, which is defined as locations with a population density over 400 people per sq. kilometre. In 2006 that percentage has risen to 80%.

Population density in Frontenac County ranges from 19.4 per sq. kilometre in South Frontenac, 4.8 in Central Frontenac, and 1.7 in North Frontenac.

Rural and small town Canada saw a population growth of 1% between 2001 and 2006, while urban areas increased by 6.4%.

Of the rural jurisdictions with high population increases, the majority were located with 50 kilometres of an urban centre. In that sense the data from Frontenac County follows the pattern. It saw most of the population increase in the two townships that border the City of Kingston, South Frontenac (11%) and Frontenac Islands (13.7%).

The City of Kingston itself now has a population of 117,207, an increase of 2.6%.

The Township of Addington Highlands has grown by 2.4% to 2,512 since 2001, Lanark Highlands has increased by 8% to 5,180, and Tay Valley Township is up 3.6% to 5,634.

The town of Perth, on the other hand, saw a population decrease of 1.6% to 5,907.

The village of Westport saw a drop in population of 2 people. There are now 645 residents, compared to 647 five years ago, a drop of 0.3%.

Other census information will be released in the coming months.