On March 12, 2002 the first results from the 2001 Census -
population and dwelling counts - were released by Statistics
Canada. Information on other characteristics of the B.C.
population such as age, ethnicity, education, income, etc. will
be released over the next two years. British Columbia was the
third fastest growing province in Canada, increasing 4.9%
between 1996 and 2001. On May 15, 2001, the population of B.C.
was counted as 3,907,738, compared with 3,724,500 in May 1996.
B.C.'s population growth was slightly stronger than the national
rate of 4.0%. In the previous five year period, B.C.'s
population had increased 13.5%, more than double the 5.7%
increase in the Canadian population. Between 1996 and 2001,
Alberta (10.3%) and Ontario (6.1%) had the strongest population
growth among the provinces. Nunavut's population grew by 8.1%.
Fewer than half (12 out of 28) of the regional districts in the
province experienced population growth between 1996 and 2001.
The regions that grew were concentrated in the