Alberta's population growth is breaking records, but signs of strain are showing

At Calgary's Centre for Newcomers, where Kelly Ernst is chief program officer, staff have been — in Ernst's words — "run off their feet."

At Calgary's Centre for Newcomers, where Kelly Ernst is chief program officer, staff have been — in Ernst's words — "run off their feet."

The non-profit organization, which offers services and language training to immigrants and refugees in Alberta's largest city, served an eye-popping 50,000 clients last year. It was a dramatic increase from the prior year, and also a huge uptick from pre-pandemic times.

"These numbers are more than 100 per cent greater than the previous year, and triple five years ago," Ernst said.

"For some services, the numbers are up over 400 per cent over two years."

The surge in demand for newcomer services in Calgary is a reflection of Alberta's record-breaking population growth, which has come with both pros and cons. 

In 2023, the western province saw its population surge by 202,324 residents to 4.8 million, according to Statistics Canada.

That's the largest annual increase in Alberta's history, the equivalent of 550 people moving to the province every day. While the bulk of the growth came from international migration, reflecting a Canada-wide trend, Alberta also shattered a national record in 2023 for interprovincial migration with a net gain of 55,107 people, the highest ever recorded by any province.