The Town of Westlock's official population has increased by over 300 residents, according to the results of this spring's municipal census. Between mid-April and the end of June, St. Mary School Fundraising Society members knocked on doors throughout town and counted 5,147 residents in 2,588 dwellings. The group was paid $7,099.
The Town of Westlock's official population has increased by over 300 residents, according to the results of this spring's municipal census.
Between mid-April and the end of June, St. Mary School Fundraising Society members knocked on doors throughout town and counted 5,147 residents in 2,588 dwellings. The group was paid $7,099.
Westlock's census represents a 6.7 per cent increase over the 2011 federal census, which recorded 4,823 residents.
At the town's Aug. 10 meeting the official results were presented to councillors, at which time it was accepted as information.
The municipality has until September to submit its census results to Alberta Municipal Affairs in order to have it recognized as the official population, though they will not make the application.
Town of Westlock CAO Dean Krause said the main reason behind the census was to prepare for long-term planning.
'One of the primary purposes was to see where we are at so we could do some long-term financial planning because the federal census is done next year," Krause said.
'That will become our official population."
Having time to prepare, Krause said, gives the town a leg up because having a population of over 5,000 means they'll be on the hook for covering the costs of the RCMP.
'We know on the horizon policing costs are going to come. If this census said we were 4,850, for example, we know that we don't have to worry about policing for an extended period of time," he said.
'This was the check and balance for us - we have to start thinking now of how we're going to handle policing costs in three to four years.
Krause said they anticipates policing costs will be in the neighbourhood of $1 million annually.
'That's pretty hard for any town of 5,000 to absorb," he said. 'You have a transition period of two years, but it's still a huge undertaking."
Another key component of the census is that, for the first time ever, council has specific demographic information for 23 different areas in town.
'That kind of [tells us] a lot of our youth live in this area, so this is where our first playground should be built," Krause said.
