Vancouver’s population drops by nearly 6,800 from 2020-21: Statistics Canada

There was a general sense around many countries that urban populations dropped during the pandemic, and new numbers from Statistics Canada demonstrate the scale of this in the City of Vancouver.

According to the latest population estimates released by Statistics Canada, Vancouver’s population dropped by more than 6,780 people from 2020 to 2021.

While people have discussed the trend of people moving from cities, out to the suburbs and beyond during the pandemic, Simon Fraser University City Program director Andy Yan tells CityNews there are a number of factors at play.

He points to perhaps post-secondary students not physically coming to Vancouver as they might have before, as well as affordability challenges. He acknowledges measuring errors are a possibility as well.

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“That’s definitely an outlier for the City of Vancouver, which has almost seen perpetual growth since the mid-1980s,” Yan said of Vancouver’s population declining. “There was a small period in the 1990s which you also saw the population flatten.”

When we look at the region as a whole, the population did grow slightly by approximately one per cent.

Not all major cities saw people leave. Surrey, for example, did experience growth.

“We’ve certainly seen the ongoing growth within the City of Surrey,” said Yan. “Over just the last year, the population of the City of Surrey actually increased by 13,000 new residents.”

NEW: My latest for @CityNewsVAN — City of Vancouver's population dropped by 6,780 from 2020-21, according to latest population estimates from Statistics Canada — backing anecdotes of a pandemic fuelled urban exodus –thanks @Ayan604 for insight/analysishttps://t.co/1q6cZ99zP0 pic.twitter.com/MJVl1qUMV8

— Martin MacMahon (@martinmacmahon) January 13, 2022

Meanwhile, even in places like Vancouver, home prices have gone up — despite the drop in population.

“I think that is touching upon the role of how housing isn’t just about demand and supply, it’s also about finance,” said Yan. “And really, how much of this is really attached towards the role of ultra-low interest rates in response to the pandemic, as well as access to those rates by those who already owning property and wanting to own a second or third property in metropolitan Vancouver.”

A caveat to all of this, Yan says, is BC Stats data and more comprehensive census data, both of which will be released later this year — which could provide a better picture of what’s actually going on with our local population.