{
  "id": "city-population",
  "category": "Economy",
  "title": "People living in Greater Victoria",
  "geography": "Greater Victoria (Victoria census metropolitan area); the City of Victoria is shown as a line",
  "scope": "cma",
  "levels": [
    "Births, deaths and migration",
    "Housing supply"
  ],
  "plain_question": "How many people live in Greater Victoria and in the City of Victoria, and how fast is that changing?",
  "value": 445090,
  "display_value": "445,090",
  "unit": "residents (July 1 estimate)",
  "period": "July 1, 2025",
  "period_start": "2025-07-01",
  "period_end": "2025-07-01",
  "comparison": {
    "previous_period": "July 1, 2024",
    "previous_value": 441961,
    "change_percent": 0.7
  },
  "since_text": "Was 441,961 in 2024 (+0.7%). City of Victoria: 103,888 in 2025",
  "trend": "context",
  "trend_basis": "Greater Victoria: 445,090 residents on July 1, 2025, compared with 441,961 a year earlier (+0.7%) and 352,537 in 2011 (+26.3%). City of Victoria (BC Stats): 103,888 in 2025, 22.4% of the Capital Region (464,082).",
  "direction_good": "up",
  "right_direction": "Population is shown for context, so it has no “better” or “worse” label. It is the base for the per-resident measures on this site.",
  "caveats": [
    "Estimates are revised each year, and the latest year is preliminary.",
    "Estimates count people who usually live in the area, not commuters, students living elsewhere or visitors.",
    "Greater Victoria here is Statistics Canada's Victoria census metropolitan area on 2021 boundaries. It is not the same area as the Capital Regional District.",
    "The City of Victoria line is BC Stats' estimate. Statistics Canada's own estimates for the City on 2021 Census boundaries (table 17-10-0155-01) agree with it within 0.1% in every year from 2001, so the whole series uses the same City boundary.",
    "The dashed line is BC Stats' projection for the City (2026 to 2035), from the same file as its estimates. It is a projection, not data, and it is not used for any label. Projections are kept in the site's projections log."
  ],
  "charts": [
    {
      "title": "People living in Greater Victoria (census metropolitan area)",
      "fmt": "int",
      "unit": "residents",
      "lines": [
        {
          "name": "Greater Victoria",
          "area": "cma",
          "series": [
            {
              "period": "2001",
              "value": 325850
            },
            {
              "period": "2002",
              "value": 328100
            },
            {
              "period": "2003",
              "value": 330417
            },
            {
              "period": "2004",
              "value": 332640
            },
            {
              "period": "2005",
              "value": 335915
            },
            {
              "period": "2006",
              "value": 339963
            },
            {
              "period": "2007",
              "value": 342279
            },
            {
              "period": "2008",
              "value": 344737
            },
            {
              "period": "2009",
              "value": 348408
            },
            {
              "period": "2010",
              "value": 351498
            },
            {
              "period": "2011",
              "value": 352537
            },
            {
              "period": "2012",
              "value": 358777
            },
            {
              "period": "2013",
              "value": 364939
            },
            {
              "period": "2014",
              "value": 370435
            },
            {
              "period": "2015",
              "value": 375046
            },
            {
              "period": "2016",
              "value": 384800
            },
            {
              "period": "2017",
              "value": 390727
            },
            {
              "period": "2018",
              "value": 397109
            },
            {
              "period": "2019",
              "value": 403868
            },
            {
              "period": "2020",
              "value": 409898
            },
            {
              "period": "2021",
              "value": 414596
            },
            {
              "period": "2022",
              "value": 426033
            },
            {
              "period": "2023",
              "value": 432684
            },
            {
              "period": "2024",
              "value": 441961
            },
            {
              "period": "2025",
              "value": 445090
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "title": "People living in the City of Victoria, with BC Stats' projection",
      "fmt": "int",
      "unit": "residents",
      "lines": [
        {
          "name": "City of Victoria (estimate)",
          "area": "city",
          "series": [
            {
              "period": "2001",
              "value": 77858
            },
            {
              "period": "2002",
              "value": 78295
            },
            {
              "period": "2003",
              "value": 78737
            },
            {
              "period": "2004",
              "value": 79203
            },
            {
              "period": "2005",
              "value": 79920
            },
            {
              "period": "2006",
              "value": 80894
            },
            {
              "period": "2007",
              "value": 80962
            },
            {
              "period": "2008",
              "value": 81285
            },
            {
              "period": "2009",
              "value": 81945
            },
            {
              "period": "2010",
              "value": 82351
            },
            {
              "period": "2011",
              "value": 82453
            },
            {
              "period": "2012",
              "value": 83427
            },
            {
              "period": "2013",
              "value": 85131
            },
            {
              "period": "2014",
              "value": 86573
            },
            {
              "period": "2015",
              "value": 88262
            },
            {
              "period": "2016",
              "value": 90236
            },
            {
              "period": "2017",
              "value": 91802
            },
            {
              "period": "2018",
              "value": 93655
            },
            {
              "period": "2019",
              "value": 95799
            },
            {
              "period": "2020",
              "value": 96392
            },
            {
              "period": "2021",
              "value": 96278
            },
            {
              "period": "2022",
              "value": 98537
            },
            {
              "period": "2023",
              "value": 100557
            },
            {
              "period": "2024",
              "value": 103077
            },
            {
              "period": "2025",
              "value": 103888
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "name": "BC Stats projection (Projection, not data)",
          "area": "city",
          "projection": true,
          "series": [
            {
              "period": "2026",
              "value": 102927
            },
            {
              "period": "2027",
              "value": 102998
            },
            {
              "period": "2028",
              "value": 103726
            },
            {
              "period": "2029",
              "value": 104479
            },
            {
              "period": "2030",
              "value": 105206
            },
            {
              "period": "2031",
              "value": 105976
            },
            {
              "period": "2032",
              "value": 106793
            },
            {
              "period": "2033",
              "value": 107665
            },
            {
              "period": "2034",
              "value": 108580
            },
            {
              "period": "2035",
              "value": 109530
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "series": [
    {
      "period": "2001",
      "value": 325850
    },
    {
      "period": "2002",
      "value": 328100
    },
    {
      "period": "2003",
      "value": 330417
    },
    {
      "period": "2004",
      "value": 332640
    },
    {
      "period": "2005",
      "value": 335915
    },
    {
      "period": "2006",
      "value": 339963
    },
    {
      "period": "2007",
      "value": 342279
    },
    {
      "period": "2008",
      "value": 344737
    },
    {
      "period": "2009",
      "value": 348408
    },
    {
      "period": "2010",
      "value": 351498
    },
    {
      "period": "2011",
      "value": 352537
    },
    {
      "period": "2012",
      "value": 358777
    },
    {
      "period": "2013",
      "value": 364939
    },
    {
      "period": "2014",
      "value": 370435
    },
    {
      "period": "2015",
      "value": 375046
    },
    {
      "period": "2016",
      "value": 384800
    },
    {
      "period": "2017",
      "value": 390727
    },
    {
      "period": "2018",
      "value": 397109
    },
    {
      "period": "2019",
      "value": 403868
    },
    {
      "period": "2020",
      "value": 409898
    },
    {
      "period": "2021",
      "value": 414596
    },
    {
      "period": "2022",
      "value": 426033
    },
    {
      "period": "2023",
      "value": 432684
    },
    {
      "period": "2024",
      "value": 441961
    },
    {
      "period": "2025",
      "value": 445090
    }
  ],
  "series_note": "July 1 estimates",
  "projection": {
    "by": "BC Stats",
    "made_on": "2026-05-29",
    "periods": [
      "2026",
      "2027",
      "2028",
      "2029",
      "2030",
      "2031",
      "2032",
      "2033",
      "2034",
      "2035"
    ],
    "note": "Projection, not data"
  },
  "source": {
    "name": "Statistics Canada, population estimates by census metropolitan area (table 17-10-0148-01)",
    "url": "https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1710014801",
    "dataset_url": "https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/e25aa5d6-8878-452b-8aa8-2e0f71b83e52",
    "also": [
      {
        "name": "BC Stats, sub-provincial population estimates and projections (City of Victoria)",
        "url": "https://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/86839277-986a-4a29-9f70-fa9b1166f6cb/resource/0e15d04d-127c-457a-b999-20800c929927/download/municipality-population.csv"
      }
    ],
    "locator": "Statistics Canada table 17-10-0148-01: Victoria (CMA), July 1, 2025; BC Stats municipal population file (CSV), Victoria rows, estimates and projection"
  },
  "licence": {
    "name": "Open Government Licence - Canada",
    "url": "https://open.canada.ca/en/open-government-licence-canada"
  },
  "refresh_frequency": "Annually (January)",
  "data_published": "2026-01-14",
  "retrieved_at": "2026-11-12T04:16:48Z",
  "attribution": "Adapted from Statistics Canada, table 17-10-0148-01. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – British Columbia.",
  "table": "17-10-0148-01",
  "licence_type": "open",
  "source_tier": 1,
  "measure_kind": "context",
  "better_measure": null,
  "status_rule": {
    "rule": "One rule for every measure: a change smaller than 5% of the earlier value, or smaller than the agency's own margin of error, is “About the same”; no change is calculated across a marked break in a series; homelessness estimates, prices, staffing and comparison pages are shown for context without a label.",
    "reason": "Shown for context, without a better or worse label.",
    "threshold_percent": 5.0
  },
  "changes": {
    "year": null,
    "five_year": {
      "period": "2019",
      "years": 6,
      "value": 403868,
      "comparable": true,
      "text": "vs 2019: +10.2%"
    }
  },
  "direction": {
    "type": "context",
    "rule": "Outcome measures read Better, Worse or About the same; published government targets read Ahead of, On or Behind target; value-judgement measures read Rising, Falling or Steady in a neutral colour. A change smaller than the agency's own margin of error, or otherwise smaller than 5% of the earlier value, is About the same (or Steady). No change is calculated across a marked break in a series.",
    "key": "steady",
    "label": "Steady this year. Rising over 6 years.",
    "arrow": "▲",
    "rel": 0.7079810209498123,
    "delta": null,
    "vs": "2024",
    "cur": "2025",
    "why": "Population growth is neither good nor bad in itself. The change is 0.7% of the earlier value, below the 5% threshold. Over 6 years (since 2019) the change is 10.2% of the earlier value, at or above the 5% threshold, so the label also says Rising over 6 years.",
    "change": "0.7%",
    "one_year": "+0.7%",
    "five": {
      "period": "2019",
      "comparable": true,
      "rel": 10.206800241663117,
      "years": 6,
      "base_2019": true,
      "replaced": "2020",
      "text": "+10.2%"
    },
    "five_replaced": {
      "period": "2020",
      "text": "+8.6%"
    },
    "label_one_year": "Steady",
    "long_key": "rising",
    "long_label": "Rising over 6 years"
  },
  "benchmark": {
    "rung": 4,
    "rung_name": "Context measure: no target expected",
    "as_of": "2026-11-12",
    "items": [
      {
        "kind": "context",
        "label": "Context measure: no target expected",
        "area": null,
        "source": null,
        "documents_checked": null,
        "text": "Context measure: no target expected. A population count is background for the other numbers; governments forecast it, they do not set a target for it."
      }
    ],
    "drawn": [],
    "rule": "Highest rung found is shown; the site never sets a target. Methods, Targets."
  },
  "no_target_expected": "A population count is background for the other numbers; governments forecast it, they do not set a target for it.",
  "benchmarks": [],
  "highest_rung": null,
  "decided_by": [
    {
      "body": "NONE",
      "name": "No government decides this directly",
      "note": "People decide where to live."
    },
    {
      "body": "CAN",
      "name": "Government of Canada and Parliament",
      "decides": "Plans how many permanent residents Canada admits each year.",
      "laws": [
        {
          "key": "irpa94",
          "label": "Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, s. 94",
          "url": "https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/I-2.5/FullText.html"
        }
      ],
      "last": null,
      "next": null
    },
    {
      "body": "MUN",
      "name": "City of Victoria Council",
      "decides": "Decides zoning and approves new housing in the City (each council decides for its own area).",
      "laws": [
        {
          "key": "lga479",
          "label": "Local Government Act, s. 479",
          "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/r15001_14#section479"
        }
      ],
      "last": null,
      "next": null
    }
  ],
  "main_decision_maker": "No government decides this directly",
  "label_1y": {
    "key": "steady",
    "label": "Steady"
  },
  "label_long": {
    "key": "rising",
    "label": "Rising",
    "years": 6,
    "change": "+10.2%"
  },
  "target_line": {
    "form": 7,
    "text": "No target expected",
    "target": null,
    "gap": null,
    "comparison": null,
    "applies_here": false,
    "note": "A population count is background for the other numbers; governments forecast it, they do not set a target for it."
  }
}