Opening ceremony for the Gathering of Nations in P.A. (Nigel Maxwell/paNOW Staff)

By Jaryn Vecchio

Indigenous People

Indigenous people make up 42 per cent of P.A.’s population

Sep 21, 2022 | 5:00 PM

Nearly half of the people who live in the city of Prince Albert are Indigenous.

That’s according to Statistics Canada which released more information from the 2021 census on Wednesday.

P.A.’s entire population sits at 37,756 with 16,120 people identifying themselves as Indigenous. This is around 42 per cent of the city’s population, up from 41 per cent in 2016.

Around 58 per cent of P.A.’s Indigenous population are First Nation, while 40 per cent are Métis. Women slightly outnumber men, accounting for 53 per cent.

Out of all the cities and regions in Canada that have at least 30,000, P.A. has the largest overall Indigenous population. Many cities, like Regina and Saskatoon, have more Indigenous people call them home, but they make up a small amount of the overall population.

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The city of Corner Brook and the surrounding communities in Newfoundland and Labrador have one of the closest Indigenous populations to P.A.’s coming in around 25 per cent.

Growth in Canada

Around 1.8 million people in Canada identify as Indigenous.

This accounts for roughly five per cent of the country’s population, up slightly from 2016 which reported 4.9 per cent.

That point one per cent increase represents a nine per cent rise in the overall population of Indigenous people.

This was also the first time ever that a census has counted more than one million First Nations people, while there are around 624,000 Métis people across the country.

The Indigenous population, on average, is also around 8.2 years younger than the non-Indigenous population. Roughly one out of every six Indigenous people claimed to be close to retirement.

Growth in Saskatchewan

Despite P.A. having the biggest percentage of Indigenous people in an urban centre, Saskatchewan only has the sixth largest population among all provinces and territories.

Ontario is home to the highest number of Indigenous people followed by British Columbia and Alberta.

Around 17 per cent of Saskatchewan’s population identifies as Indigenous which is the fifth most in Canada, only trailing the three territories and Manitoba.

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Jaryn.Vecchio@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow