Where growth is happening—and who’s driving it & How data shaped real decisions in Port Alberni
Hi fellow economic developer,
Welcome back to Field Notes—your weekly dispatch from the world of data, dashboards, and community insight. Whether you’re planning for the future, working on a grant, or just love a good chart, we’re glad you’re here.
Note 1: Population Growth
📊 The Surprising Shape of Change
We talk about population growth all the time—but how it's happening is just as important as how much. And sometimes, it takes a good visual to see the story clearly.
Take Calgary, for example. Over the past three years, the city added almost 213,000 people—the same amount it grew in the ten years before that. That’s a steep climb by any measure.
But here's the twist: in just the past two years, nearly half of that growth came from non-permanent residents—people like international students and temporary workers.
We see similar pattern in most urban areas across Canada. Meanwhile, in more rural places like Haldimand-Norfolk region in Ontario, it’s a very different picture. Growth is slower, and non-permanent residents barely register as a contributor.
These aren’t just numbers—they're clues. Clues that help us understand demand for housing, shifts in the labor force, pressures on services, and the bigger story about who's coming, staying, and shaping our communities.
Want to see what this looks like in your own region? We’d be happy to walk you through your community’s data and show how CityViz works in action.
Port Alberni (BC) recently took on the big job of diversifying its economy—and the team made great use of their CityViz data tools along the way.
“The Economic Strategy tool allows us to consider which sectors are best suited to recovery, strengthening or diversifying initiatives.
The Economic Impact Calculator allows us to see the financial impact to our economy of changes in employment in our existing economic sectors.”
And they didn’t stop at strategy. In just a couple of months, they’ve used the Economic Dependencies Dashboard to support grant applications, shape a municipal master plan, and orient new Council members.
It’s always rewarding to see tools being used this way—as part of real decisions that make our communities a better place to live.
Every Thursday, we open the Zoom room to talk data, tools, community insight, and visual storytelling. It’s informal, wide-ranging, and open to anyone—whether you're deep in a dashboard or just exploring ideas.
🕐 New start time alert! We’ve shifted the session slightly—see updated times below.
