Maple Ridge has been on a steady growth track the last few years, though the paced slowed somewhat last year, according to B.C. Stats population estimates.
From 2016 to 2017, the city saw a 3.4-per-cent increase in growth, followed by increases of 2.5 per cent for the two following years. That growth tailed off considerably though with an increase of only 0.6 per cent from 2018 to 2019.
Currently, the City of Maple Ridge’s population is estimated at just more than 91,000 residents.
The growth has been dramatic considering that in 2014, the city’s population was 81,468 and that within five years it had grown by 10,000 residents.
Pitt Meadows population however is going the other way, at least when 2018 is compared with 2019. The growth rate for Pitt Meadows during that period was -0.8 per cent with a current population of 19,728. When the five previous years are looked at, Pitt Meadows hasn’t seen an increase of more than two per cent in each of those years.
Read more: Maple Ridge’s future population downsized
As of 2019, Maple Ridge is the 15th largest city in the province, with Victoria the next largest at 94,000.
The fastest growing city was Langford, near Victoria, with a growth rate of five per cent while Surrey grew by three per cent.
According to Metro Vancouver 2040: Shaping our Future, the regional growth strategy, Maple Ridge is supposed to reach a population of 118,000 by 2041 while Pitt Meadows will have a population of 23,500.
Read more: Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows now a combined population of 100,000
Metro Vancouver as an entire region is expected to have 3.4 million people by 2041.
Metro Vancouver’s projection for Maple Ridge for 2021 doesn’t match the current numbers from B.C. Stats. Metro Vancouver’s regional growth strategy called for a population of 87,600 in 2021, but the city has already exceeded that, according to B.C. Stats.
pmelnychuk@mapleridgenews.com
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