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City’s population dropped in 2018

A report that the City of Estevan has used in the past to track its population on an annual basis shows that the number of people in the city dropped once again in 2018.
Mayor Roy Ludwig
Mayor Roy Ludwig. File photo

A report that the City of Estevan has used in the past to track its population on an annual basis shows that the number of people in the city dropped once again in 2018.

The Covered Population Report, compiled by eHealth Saskatchewan, shows there were 12,612 people in Estevan carrying a Saskatchewan Health card, as of June 30, 2018. That’s down more than 600 people from the 13,222 people classified as city residents by the report in 2017, and 13,307 who lived here in 2016.

By comparison, Estevan’s census number for 2016 was 11,258 residents.

Mayor Roy Ludwig said he wasn’t surprised to see a drop in Estevan’s numbers due to the state of the economy.

“A good part of our economic base is related to oil, and our oil economy lately has been suffering for the last while, so it’s no big surprise that our numbers are down,” the mayor said.

During the economic boom years, the Covered Population Report became the go-to document for the city when trying to gage its population. The covered population report came out every year, while the census was released once every five years. And the report was viewed as a more accurate reflection of the number of people in Estevan for medium-term and long-term work-related purposes.

Ludwig said the city still pays close attention to the document.

“The health records tend to be a little bit more accurate, a little more on point at any given time, although the census is accurate overall within a given margin error at a time,” said Ludwig.

He believes the health card numbers are still a pretty good barometer of where the city’s population is at.

Meanwhile, the city is trying to do what it can to keep the population from dropping further. Among the initiatives is a new transition committee to diversify the economy.

It was formed after SaskPower announced last year that it would retire Units 4 and 5 at the Boundary Dam Power Station. The committee has representation from SaskPower, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the United Mine Workers of America, the Westmoreland Coal Company, Western Economic Diversification Canada, the city and the Estevan Chamber of Commerce. They have had a few meetings thus far, and they have been going well, Ludwig said.

The information in the report is further broken down by age and gender. For example, as of June 30, 2018, there 71 boys and 74 girls under the age of one in the city, and there were two people at least 100 years of age, both of them female.

The largest age number for men in the city was 29, as there were 127 male residents of that age, while the largest age number for women was 123 female residents who were 35.

In all, Estevan was home to 6,392 males and 6,220 females in Estevan on June 30, 2018.

Meanwhile, the report showed there were 699 people in the rural municipality of Estevan, as of June 30, 2018, compared to 679 in 2017 and 658 in 2016.

The 2016 census showed there were 1,370 people living in the RM. Traditionally the report has had higher numbers for urban municipalities and lower numbers for rural municipalities when compared with the census.

Overall, Saskatchewan’s population was at 1,187,629 people.

The report points out it is not a census, but it is a count of individuals who were eligible for Saskatchewan health insurance benefits.

Coverage for an individual begins on the first day of the third month following their arrival to Saskatchewan. Residents with at least one day of coverage in the month of June are counted.

“Residents leaving the province remain eligible for coverage for this same period,” the report states. “In the case of death, people who had coverage any time in June are included.”

Coverage is available to residents temporarily living outside of the province, such as students, contract employees and more. For these cases, addresses from outside of Saskatchewan are acceptable.

The Personal Health Registration System (PHRS) is the data source for the Saskatchewan Health Coverage Report.

Health card renewal occurs every three years.

This week’s edition of Southeast Lifestyles will have more on the numbers for rural communities in the report.