Population growth still a priority for city staff

Growing the population of Merritt has been an objective of city council throughout their term.

While growth remains a priority, the population of Merritt actually shrunk over the past four years according to the 2022 Canada Census.

“Never good to see a declining population for so many reason, services is a good part of it. But when you are working to attract industry and other commercial opportunities to the community they want to see a strong vibrant work force and stable population and I don’t think decline is necessarily healthy for economy,” said CAO Sean Smith. “Nobody is going to tell you we are thrilled about it but think there are some reasons on the city side and census side.”

Between 2016 and 2021, the population of Merritt is recorded to have decreased by 1.2%. It is important to note that the census data was collected before the November floods.

“We have some real challenges because this isn’t just growth for non-Merrittonains, this is about how we house the people who are here, who have lived here for a long time,” stated Smith. “We needed housing before (the floods) and we needed it bad, and now it’s just so much more dire.”

“Using this data, Merritt is projected to reach a population of 12,684 by 2040. This represents a population increase of 62.5% from 2020 to 2040, which is an average annual growth rate of 2.46% or 244 new residents,annually,” reads Merritt’s draft OCP.

Smith admitted that those figures may need to be reviewed by staff.

“Even before the census, we had already discussed changes to that prediction. Average growth rates over 2 per cent over a long time horizon, that’s ambitious. To say that is what will continue to happen for 20-years is optimistic,” said Smith.

“I would anticipate that we should be adding roughly 100-150 people a year. What will that look like as a result of the latest housing shock with the flood. It’s difficult to predict, i may put that expectation on pause depending on how much support we get from the province,” added Smith.

The CAO did note that while the city saw an overall decline, building starts and permits have been increasing in recent years.

“It really hasn’t been until 2020 and 2021 when you start to see a whole lot more development applications and building permits. But the challenge is those haven’t necessarily received their occupancy, there isn’t people in those homes yet. I think that when you break it down by a year by year basis, and the last two years is when those applications started ramping up. That will translate to population growth in 2022 and 2023,” added Smith.

“I think growth has to be part of the picture, and i think we’ve heard from residents that there is a desire for that growth to be measured and responsible. I look forward to seeing a continuation of the last two years and seeing that materialize into more occupancy,” said Smith.