New census data shows the population of Cranbrook fell below the national growth rate over the last five years.

Statistics Canada released the first batch of numbers from the 2011 census on Wednesday and the population of Cranbrook increased by 5.4 per cent since the last census in 2006.

The city's growth rate was below the national growth rate of 5.9 per cent, while the population of British Columbia increased by 7.0 per cent.

When the 2011 census was taken last May 10, the population of Cranbrook was 19,319, compared with 18,329 from the 2006 census.

There are 8,509 private dwellings in Cranbrook's 31.95 square kilometres. On census day, 8,141 were occupied. There are 604.7 people in each square kilometre in Cranbrook.

Meanwhile, our neighbours to the north saw an increase of 8.5 per cent in their population. Kimberley now has a population of 6,723, up from its 2006 population of 6,199.

The city's area is almost twice the size of Cranbrook, at 60.72 square kilometres, meaning its population density is 110.7 people per square kilometre.

Kimberley has 3,454 private dwellings, and 2,979 were occupied on May 10, 2011.

Canada's population on census day was 33,476,688, Statistics Canada reported.

The national census is conducted every five years. The information published Wednesday is the first of several releases of data to come from Statistics Canada over the next year and longer that will eventually paint a detailed picture of the country, right down to the local level - including age breakdowns of the population, family makeup, languages spoken, immigration and ethnic origin, the level of education attained and income earned.

At the national level, the 2011 census showed Canada's population grew the fastest of the G8 countries over the last five years - ahead of the United States (4.4 per cent), the United Kingdom (3.5 per cent), Italy (3.2 per cent), France (2.8 per cent), Russia (0.1 per cent), Japan (no change) and Germany (which had a population decrease of 0.8 per cent).

The western provinces, where the recession had less of an impact than in central and eastern Canada, led the way in population growth. Alberta saw the highest increase at 10.8 per cent, followed by British Columbia (7.0 per cent) and Saskatchewan (6.7 per cent).

Ontario is still the country's most populous province, with a population of 12,851,821. The population of other provinces and territories: Quebec, 7,903,001; British Columbia, 4,400,057; Alberta, 3,645,257; Manitoba, 1,208,268; Saskatchewan, 1,033,381; Nova Scotia, 921,727; New Brunswick, 751,171; Newfoundland and Labrador, 514,536; Prince Edward Island, 140,204; Northwest Territories, 41,462; Yukon, 33,897 and Nunavut, 31,906.