New population numbers show Regina continues to lose residents to other provinces
Immigration responsible for most of population growth
Today, Statistics Canada released new population estimates data for Canada’s metropolitan areas. The so-called “Components of population change” figures paint a picture of a greater Regina area that is losing residents as they leave for greener pastures elsewhere in Canada.
According to the numbers for the Regina Census Metropolitan Area, in the 2022-23 period studied
There were 2770 births
2,199 people died
9,581 immigrants arrived
251 net people left the country
3,230 net people left the province
186 net people moved to Regina from elsewhere in Saskatchewan
3,728 net non-permanent residents came to Regina (i.e. temporary workers, foreign students)
Let’s set aside the immigration aspect, as each of the cities had net positive immigration figures. For me, what stood out is that Regina is not attracting people from other provinces to move here (on a net basis). Within the Prairies, Saskatoon and Winnipeg show a similar pattern.
Edmonton and especially Calgary, however, are both drawing people in from other provinces, with a net 16,082 and 26,662 new residents, respectively.
Drilling down to “working-age” people (ages 15 to 64 years), Regina lost a net 2,167 to other provinces. Saskatoon lost 1,806 net people to the great Canadian void.
One big difference is that Saskatoon is drawing people in from the rest of Saskatchewan at more than ten times the rate Regina is: 1756 net new Saskatchewanians moved to Saskatoon, vs 157 net new Rider fans in Regina.
People definitely have a preference on where they’d like to start families. The ratio of births to deaths is far higher in Calgary as well, whereas Regina fares the worst —
Winnipeg: 1.38 births-to-deaths ratio
Regina: 1.26
Saskatoon: 1.50
Calgary: 1.86
Edmonton: 1.52
What could be the reason for Regina’s lack of attractiveness?
There is a whole city-building literature of advice on attracting workers to your city through various strategies. Famously, the so-called Creative City trend focused on funding amenities favoured by high-skill, high-education workers — bike lanes, art districts, and the like.
In recent years, Regina has nudged forward in this direction with actions like inviting rental scooters into the central neighbourhoods. It also is plowing itself head-first into the opposite direction, with a big, 1970s-style downtown sports facility megaproject scheme (opposed by two-thirds of residents), and with plans to remove the single pedestrianized street in the whole city (at a time when cities across Canada are adding new ones).
With municipal elections coming up this fall, perhaps residents of Regina (and Saskatoon) can have a full public debate on the issue of making the City a more attractive place for people to move here.