Richard Froese
South Peace News
Big Lakes County is counting itself out of conducting a municipal census this spring to compile its population.
At its regular meeting Feb. 28, council approved a motion to receive the census report for information.
Reeve Tyler Airth noted a municipal census has both good and points to it.
However, municipal census figures don’t really matter, he notes.
“Federal census figures are used for provincial and federal government funding purposes,” he said.
Alberta municipalities have the option to conduct their only local census.
A municipal census must be conducted from April 1 to June 30, Pat Olansky, director of community services and planning, told council.
The last federal census was completed in spring 2021.
Each year, Alberta Municipal Affairs offers training on how to conduct a municipal census. County staff have received training in previous years.
“If council wishes to conduct a municipal census,, the minister of municipal affairs must be notified by Feb. 28,” Olansky said.
“If council believes more-accurate population numbers and more-specific information is required, a municipal census would be a good idea.”
Big Lakes last conducted its own census was in 2017 because council felt the federal figures in the 2016 census were inaccurate.
This year, council stopped the process because the estimated cost provided was $29,000. Council felt the estimated cost to conduct a census did not outweigh the benefit of obtaining update population information, noted Olansky.
Big Lakes conducted a municipal census in 2013; however, the figures were lower than the 2011 federal census and the Big Lakes population was used by the provincial government for base grant funding, Olansky told council.
The provincial government no longer uses municipal census counts for population estimates and, therefore, does not use municipal census counts for provincial funding processes.