More than 200 residents in Alberta’s Lacombe County were lost between 2001 and 2006, and municipal officials plan to send enumerators door to door to find them.
According to the 2006 federal census, 200 fewer people lived in Lacombe County in 2006 than in 2001.
“While a decrease of 200 residents may not seem overly newsworthy, it actually has a fairly significant impact on the county,” said Tim Timmons, the county’s manager of corporate services.
“We question the accuracy of that data …. We just want to confirm their numbers were accurate.”
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Federal and provincial grants for schools, roads, hospitals and infrastructure are calculated on a per-capita basis.
Timmons said the county census will do more than count residents. It will also collect gender information and develop broad age classifications to help prepare for future recreation and service sector planning.
Each person counted is worth about $200 in grants.
“It’s our ultimate goal to knock on every door,” Timmons said.
Camrose County is also conducting its own survey.
“It’s good for the municipalities to confirm the federal numbers,” said county administrator Steve Gerlitz.
The federal census counted 7,160 residents in 2006, down 134 from 2001.
Gerald Rhodes, executive director of the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties, said it’s common for areas with fast growing populations to conduct a yearly census rather than wait for the federal numbers.
“In Alberta with a lot of growth, every five years is a lifetime if you have a big population,” Rhodes said.
Ten rural municipalities in Alberta conducted their own census last year.
Rhodes said part of the problem is that Statistics Canada collects its census information during the spring, which isn’t an ideal time to find busy families at home.
“This time of year kids are in soccer, and in rural areas, people are out on the land.”
The federal census allows for one follow-up visit, but the Alberta counties, determined to count every person, will call back several times until they find someone home.
“The federal census is not as thorough as the municipal ones,” he said.
“If the census was in the dead of winter you might have a better chance of counting everyone, but they never are.”
