What is the population of Yellowknife? That may sound like a simple enough question but when humans are involved, things start to get a little confusing and complicated.
If you look it up on the internet, there was a census done in 2021 which counted 20,340 people in the city. It also estimated that in 2021, the NWT population was 41,070. Then on Jan. 1, 2023, the estimate was that the NWT had 45,493 people. That is quite a jump in population in a little over a year.
Now to add to the confusion, one article said the NWT had the lowest growth of anywhere in Canada and another article claimed that the population might be dropping and certainly would drop when the diamond mines closed.
So what are the real numbers, how are they determined and why are they important? Theoretically, if you know the past, it will help you understand the present better and help you build a better future. That’s the theory anyway. The numbers are also important because the federal government gives the territorial government money to work with and this is based on population. The GNWT then doles money out to the communities, also partially based on their population. Plus, a lot of services, programs and expenditures are supposedly based on the number of people involved.
So the numbers can be extremely important even if they may be wrong.
Every five years, the government operates a census. They send out to all the residents a questionnaire, which you must fill out, either a paper version or online, because it’s the law. People with permanent residence who are known get counted. However, this method can miss a lot of people. What about all the homeless people? Do they get counted during a census? And what about those who live in Yellowknife but do so on the sly? Someone gets a job, moves to Yellowknife, rents a three-bedroom apartment and is listed as the sole resident, yet has 10 relatives living in the apartment with them? Or the company that brings in a dozen employees and they live in a supposed garage or basement dorm unofficially? They don’t get counted?
It turns out there are several ways in which people don’t show up on the census and unless you were to go door-to-door and search every building, you just wouldn’t know about them. Also, there are people who may get recorded in one community but spend most of their time in another. Some people drift from community to community but don’t show up as living in any of them.
What about all the people who live out along the highway or the Ingraham Trail? How do they get counted? I think we need an accurate count for people living in Yellowknife and an equally accurate count for those living in the greater Yellowknife area.
Let’s imagine something like this were to happen: maybe an invasion by MAGA crazies or a massive explosion wiped out power for the foreseeable future. The entire area had to be evacuated by air. At the airport, they checked to see if you're on the census list. You’re OK and allowed to board a plane. Otherwise, you’re on your own and are left to walk south to Alberta. How many people do you think would be on that long march? I bet it is far more than most people realize.
The great Yellowknife evacuation of 2023 would have been a good time to do a comprehensive census. Or the government could make a deal with the cell phone providers to get a comprehensive list of people. That might be an easier and cheaper way to conduct a census.
Going back to the original point, there are estimates of the population, but no one really knows for sure what it is. It is truly just an estimate.
