The population of North Renfrew – Deep River, Laurentian Hills, and the townships of Head, Clara, Maria combined – has remained virtually unchanged over the past five years, although there have been changes in where people are living.
Statistics Canada released the first results of the 2021 Census Wednesday. The census was completed at the beginning of May last year.
Results of the census show that the total population of North Renfrew was 7,327 last year, up 0.1% from 7,318 from the last count in 2016.
Broken down, Head, Clara, Maria actually saw the highest rate of growth of the three municipalities, with the population rising 7.7% from 248 in 2016 to 267 last year.
That followed 5.5% growth from 2011, when the population was just 235.
Deep River also saw its population grow, from 4,109 five years ago to 4,175 in 2021, an increase of 1.6%.
The town’s population had shrunk during the previous census period, however, from 4,193 in 2011. The town’s population had also dropped from 4,216 in 2006.
Laurentian Hills, meanwhile, saw its number of residents go down slightly, from 2,961 in 2016 to 2,885 last year, a drop of 2.6%. The town’s population had previously grown from 2,811 in 2011.
Overall, Renfrew County saw its population rise 3.9 per cent, from 102,394 in 2016 to 106,365 in 2021.
The county’s largest municipality, Petawawa, continued to grow as its population rose to 18,160, an increase of 5.7% over the previous five years.
The town of Arnprior also grew quickly, up 9.5% from 2016 to 9,629 last year.
The Barry’s Bay area was hard hit, however, as Madawaska Valley recorded 3,927 residents in 2021, down 4.8% from 4,123 in 2016.
The population numbers are just the first release of information from the 2021 Census.
Data on the age, sex and gender of local residents will be released on April 27, and information on family makeup and income will be included in the release of census data set for July 13.
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