The latest census data from Statistics Canada shows the nation’s Aboriginal population continues to grow – and the Sunshine Coast mirrors that trend.
According to Stats Can, the country’s Aboriginal population has grown by 42.5 per cent since 2006, which is more than four times the growth rate of the non-Aboriginal population.
The Métis population has seen the greatest increase among Aboriginal peoples, growing 51.2 per cent over the same period.
The 2016 census found 2,020 people on the Sunshine Coast with what the agency defines as “Aboriginal identity” and 620 of them are Métis. Both numbers are up significantly from the 2011 national household survey, which replaced the long-form census that year. The survey recorded 1,430 people of Aboriginal identity of whom 450 were Métis.
The overall population of the Sunshine Coast has grown from 28,070 in 2011 to 29,375 in 2016.
The 2016 census also found 120 people who said they knew an Aboriginal language, but only 50 who spoke it regularly at home. The 2011 data show 80 people who spoke an Aboriginal language at home at least some of the time. It did not ask about knowledge of languages. Stats Can said the number of people who can speak an Aboriginal language has increased 3.1 per cent since 2006.
