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Big population hike in Coquitlam

Effects of opening of Evergreen are being felt locally
Evergreen
Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart said the development boom resulting from the Evergreen Extension is driving population gains seen in the most recent Statistics Canada census date.

When the last census was taken in 2011, shovels were not yet in the ground for the construction of the Evergreen Extension.

Today, the rapid-transit line that opened Dec. 2 is being cited as one of the main population drivers for the city of Coquitlam, which is one of the fastest growing municipalities in Metro Vancouver, according to recently released Statistics Canada data.

The census figures show that the number of residents in the city rose 9.8%, from 126,804 in 2011 to 138,284 in 2016, an increase that is behind only the township of Langley (12.6%) and the city of Surrey (10.6%).

“I am surprised we ended up in third, actually,” said Mayor Richard Stewart. “We do have a number of development areas going at the same time. A good amount of that is in response to the rapid transit line and the housing demand associated with it.”

Now that Evergreen is open, Stewart said he expects the growth to continue.

“There is no question that the housing affordability crunch that has hit the Lower Mainland is largely a shortage of supply,” he added. “We have to keep up with demand for housing. If we don’t keep up, prices will continue to rise.”

At the other end of the population growth scale is Port Moody, a city that has also benefited from Evergreen’s opening but has only seen a 1.6% rise in residents since the last census. In 2011, 33,011 people called PoMo home, a number that increased to 33,551 in 2016 — well short of the Metro Vancouver average of 6.5%.

Mayor Mike Clay acknowledged the city has “lagged” in recent years but said that is largely due to the fact Moody experienced tremendous growth “when SkyTrain was supposed to come” back in the early 2000s. 

“Newport, Suterbrook, Klahanie were all built as transit-accessible communities,” he told The Tri-City News. “Then [SkyTrain] didn’t come and was delayed.”

He noted that at one point, Port Moody had more highrise-towers than the Coquitlam Centre area, “which obviously was going to change.”

Now that SkyTrain is operating here, he said there are projects in the development pipeline, as well as proposals like the Flavelle site, which are still being debated by council and residents.  

Meanwhile, Port Coquitlam’s growth was also below the Metro Vancouver average. The city saw a population increase of 4.7% from 55,958 residents in 2011 to 58,612 in 2016. Anmore’s population also increased by 5.6% while Belcarra is one of two municipalities that saw a population decrease, falling 0.2%.

Vancouver and Surrey remain the most populated cities in the area as of 2016. Vancouver grew by 4.6 per cent to 631,486 while Surrey grew by 10.6% to 517,887.

Vancouver has the highest population density in all of Canada, with 5,400 people per square kilometre. Vancouver, New Westminster, North Vancouver and White Rock are the densest cities in B.C.

 

EMPTY HOUSES HERE, TOO?

Cities such as Vancouver and Surrey may be seeing large increases in the number of empty homes but the phenomenon does not appear to be a significant issue in the Tri-Cities.

The recent Stats Canada data showed 3,068 (5.6%) of Coquitlam’s 54,393 total dwellings were unoccupied. In Port Coquitlam, 833 (3.7%) of the city’s 22,586 units were empty while, in Port Moody, 753 (5.7%) of its 13,190 were vacant. In the city of Vancouver, there are 25,502 unoccupied units (8.2%). 

But the numbers do not necessarily mean that homes counted as unoccupied are empty year round. StatsCan defines an unoccupied dwelling as a unit that was vacant on census day, meaning properties that are between tenants or up for sale would be counted as empty. It could also catch residents who have been away on extended vacations. 

gmckenna@tricitynews.com

@gmckennaTC