By Chad Ingram

Published Feb. 16 2017

Minden Hills is growing faster than other townships in Haliburton County according to data from the 2016 census that was released last week.

On Feb. 8 Statistics Canada released information on population and dwellings from the census.

It shows that between 2011 and 2016 the year-round population of Minden Hills increased from 5655 people to 6088 an increase of 7.7 per cent.

In Algonquin Highlands the population grew from 2186 to 2351 an increase of 7.5 per cent and in Dysart et al from 5966 to 6280 for an increase of 5.3 per cent.

Highlands East saw the smallest amount of growth an increase of 2.9 per cent from 3249 year-round residents to 3343.

Overall the county’s year-round population grew by 5.6 per cent from 17056 people in 2011 to just more than 18000 year-round residents.

Minden Hills has the highest population density of the county’s four lower-tier townships an average of 6.9 people per square kilometre.

The population density in Highlands East is 4.7 people per square kilometre 4.2 in Dysart and 2.3 in Algonquin Highlands.

By comparison the population density of Toronto is just short of 900 people per square kilometre.

There are 7083 dwelling in Dysart about 2890 year-round; 6092 in Minden Hills 2830 of them year-round; about 3450 residences in Algonquin Highlands with 1100 of them year-round; and Highlands East has 4485 dwellings 1611 of them occupied on a year-round basis.

For Haliburton County as a whole there are just more than 21100 dwellings about 8440 of them year-round.

The census showed that the western provinces have been the fastest growing in terms of population during the past five years and that Canada’s population has increased from 33.4 million to more than 35 million a jump of five per cent. About two thirds of that growth comes from immigration.

More information from the census is scheduled to be released throughout 2017.