Saturday, July 16, 2005

 

Inuit population growing

Canada’s Inuit population still growing fast

By 2017, Inuit population will reach 68,400

JANE GEORGE

Twelve years from now, the face of Nunavut will look much the same as it does today: four out of five residents will be young Inuit.

But there will be more Inuit in Nunavut and across Canada, says a recently-released Statistics Canada report that projects what Canada’s aboriginal population will be in 2017.

Of all the aboriginal populations in Canada, the Inuit population is growing most rapidly. The Inuit population will reach 68,400 in 2017 from 47,600 in 2001.

Only a major economic or climatic change could alter these projections, said the report’s main author.

That’s because Inuit women have a higher birth rate and more children than any other aboriginal group in Canada, the report says.

And fewer Inuit migrate to other regions than other aboriginal groups, says the report, but the main reason for the greater population increase is the high fertility rate among Inuit women.

According to Statistics Canada, by 2017, there will 971,200 Indians, 380,500 Métis and 68,400 Inuit in Canada.

The overall composition of Canada’s aboriginal population would not change significantly. The majority, 68 per cent, would be North American Indian; Métis would represent 27 per cent, and Inuit about five per cent — up from 4.5 per cent in 2001.

The study also says that in 2017:

Usually statistical studies cover longer periods of time, such as 20 years or more, but Statistics Canada performed the analysis of information collected in the 2001 census after a request from the Department of Heritage: the federal government wants more information about what Canada will look like on the 150th anniversary of Confederation.


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