Census Data Dept: Statistics Canada released the first batch of numbers from the 2011 census on Wednesday and the population of Cape Breton Regional Municipality decreased by 4.7 per cent since the last census in 2006, according to The Chronicle Herald. When the 2011 census was taken last May 10, the population of Cape Breton Regional Municipality was 97,398, compared with 102,250 from the 2006 census and oTTAWA New census data show the population of Cape Breton Regional Municipality fell below the national growth rate over the last five years a period that saw the country spiral into the most serious economic tailspin since the Great Depression. The national growth rate was 5.9 per cent, while the population of Nova Scotia increased by 0.9 per cent. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Newfoundland And Labrador Dept: When comparing the 2001 and 2006 censuses, Nova Scotia led Atlantic Canada with 0.6 per cent growth. That rate increased to 0.9 per cent between the 2006 and 2011 censuses, but Nova Scotia now trails New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador, according to The Chronicle Herald. Newfoundland, because of its booming offshore oil industry, has seen its population growth rate climb to OTTAWA Nova Scotia has been leapfrogged by its Atlantic Canadian cousins and now has the slowest population growth in the region, census data released Wednesday reveals. This is a major flip. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Census Numbers Dept: On the Elsipogtog reserve, Chief Jesse Simon wasn't surprised by the census numbers that were released on Wednesday, according to CBC. The census data puts Elsipogtog at 2,000 people, an increase of nearly five per cent in the last five years. However, Simon said that number is higher, about 3,200 people live on the reserve now and new Brunswick's immigrant and First Nations populations are continuing to grow, according to the latest Statistics Canada data. "We're an exploding population," Simon said. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Dept: But even the fast lane has its slower-moving vehicles. Unfortunately, on the Canadian Expressway, that s us, according to The Chronicle Herald. We can greet this by treating demography as fate. Or we can do something about it by drilling down into the data and learning from it and iN DEMOGRAPHIC terms, Canada is a fast-growing place for a developed nation. According to the first data from the 2011 census, the Canadian population has risen by 5.9 per cent since 2006, which puts us well ahead of other G8 countries. The Atlantic provinces have all actually picked up their rates of population growth a bit in the last five years. But the better rates 3.2 per cent for P.E.I., 2.9 per cent for New Brunswick, 1.8 per cent for Newfoundland and Labrador and 0.9 for Nova Scotia still look like Model T performance next to the Lamborghini acceleration of Saskatchewan, B.C. and Alberta. We re not even keeping up with Quebec, Manitoba and Ontario. And the full effect of our older population has yet to kick in. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Population Base Dept: According to census figures released Wednesday by Statistics Canada, the province s population base increased by 0.9 per cent from 2006 to 2011, compared with a 0.6 per cent increase during the previous five-year period, according to The Chronicle Herald. That is cause for concern for some developers, who think the province and Ottawa should put a greater emphasis on immigration and stagnant population growth in Nova Scotia should be a wake-up call for everyone in the business community, local developers say. The number of people in Halifax jumped 4.7 per cent during that time, to 390, 096. However, a 4.7 per cent decline in Cape Breton and 0.2 per cent drop in Lunenburg point to a migration to Halifax and not an increase in the number of people moving to the city from outside the province. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Iran Dept: Inside the Beltway, however, there are growing worries about the possibility of a new war in the Middle East. Just last week, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned that Iran might have a nuclear device within a year. Iran s nuclear program, however, may soon be buried so far under a mountain that conventional bombs will no longer be able to blow it up. To forestall that possibility, Israel is talking about blowing it up this year instead. Meanwhile, Iran s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, issued new calls for Israel s destruction, according to The Chronicle Herald. Washington feels caught in the middle. But the last American combat troops only just left Iraq and 70,000 U.S. soldiers are still mired in the bloody stalemate of Afghanistan. Despite some positive signs, the U.S. economy is still wheezing. The American electorate doesn t want to see their country involved in yet another overseas war and amid the cacophony of Republican primary politics, the Planned Parenthood brouhaha and the Super Bowl excitement last week, there were far more serious and ominous developments unfolding overseas that are going somewhat unnoticed in a country consumed, more than ever, with domestic issues. So much for Madonna s Super Bowl plea for world peace. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Canadian Cities Dept: Winnipeg experienced middle-of-the-pack population growth among Canadian cities over the previous five years, further cementing the Manitoba capital's reputation for being immune to both booms and busts, according to Winnipeg Free Press. TREVOR HAGAN / ARCHIVES Winnipeg s location in the middle of the pack in terms of population growth for Canadian cities has its positive side, officials say. Census 2011 a Between 2006 and 2011, the City of Winnipeg's population rose 4.8 per cent to nearly 664,000 from more than 633,000 five years earlier, Statistics Canada revealed Wednesday when it published the first set of findings from the 2011 census. Enlarge Image (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Ana Enamorado Dept: Both, unbelievably, have left members of the same family devastated, according to The Star. For Enamorado and others in her extended family, it was the second time a loved one was lost in a deadly crash while leaving work on a poultry farm and two horrific crashes, almost eight years apart. Both tragedies, eerily, involve workers returning in a van from either vaccinating or rounding up chickens. We recognize that God is our protection and our strength in these moments for my family but . . . let us lift ourselves in prayer, to my sister Carolina who lost her husband Juan. And to my husband Alex who lost various of his family members, Kitchener s Ana Enamorado wrote in Spanish on her Facebook page Tuesday. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Neighbourhoods Dept: Port Moody, Coquitlam and Surrey were the fastest-growing communities in the 2011 census, with some neighbourhoods in those cities doubling or tripling their population between 2006 and 2011, according to data released Wednesday, according to Vancouver Sun. While growth was more vigorous than expected in the Tri-Cities, it is consistent with the regional growth strategy, which calls for development to be centred along transit corridors and town centres and metro Vancouver continues to lure new migrants and suck residents from B.C's rural towns, but it appears most people are skipping Vancouver in favour of settling in the Tri-Cities or neighbourhoods south of the Fraser. Port Moody experienced 19.9-per-cent growth during this five-year period, followed by Surrey with 18.6 per cent. Vancouver's growth rate, meanwhile, sat at 4.4 per cent, with population increases concentrated in its downtown core, Mount Pleasant and Fairview. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Labour System Dept: There have been a number of stories this week outlining the massive scale of the migratory labour system that brought these workers from Peru, and the difficult conditions they face, according to The Star. First, those numbers point to a fundamental shift in Canadian immigration and labour market policy. Over the last decade, the use of migrant labour systems has grown astronomically. By 2009, more people were coming into Canada under temporary foreign worker programs a staggering total of about 280,000 than under the regular immigration system and sadly, it took a tragedy on the scale of the traffic accident in Hampstead, Ont., which claimed 11 lives, to bring some attention to the plight of migrant workers in Canada. But before the media moves on to other issues, or the story s focus narrows to traffic safety regulations important as these may be , it is essential that Canadians take a moment to consider what those numbers and conditions really mean in other words, to wake up to the realities that tens of thousands of migrant workers face. Two broad areas of concern stand out. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.