A statistical snapshot of Port Alberni

Port Alberni and its surroundings are renowned for salmon fishing and as a desirable retirement destination due to a warm climate, outdoor recreation and affordable housing. Census data show that the population in Port Alberni and nearby communities grew by 4.5% from 2016 to 2021, which was below the national growth rate of 5.2%.

From July 1, 2021, to July 1, 2022, Port Alberni’s pace of population growth (+1.3%) was in the middle of the pack among the six census agglomerations on Vancouver Island, trailing Nanaimo (+1.9%), Campbell River (+1.8%) and Courtenay (+1.7%) but ahead of Duncan (+1.2%) and Parksville (+0.9%). For those uninitiated in census speak, a census agglomeration is a town or city with a population of 10,000 to 100,000 people.

There were 346 more people living in Port Alberni on July 1, 2022, compared with the same day a year earlier, bringing the total population to 27,771. The year-over-year population growth was mainly due to 327 more people relocating from within British Columbia to Port Alberni than moving out elsewhere in the province.  Port Alberni also saw more people arriving from outside of Canada than leaving the country (+105) and more people moving from outside of British Columbia to the city compared with those who left the province entirely (+98).

More people died in Port Alberni than were born over this period, leading to a natural decrease of 184.  Port Alberni is an older community with almost twice as many seniors (26.3%) living there as of July 1, 2022, as youth 14 years of age and younger (13.7%). By way of comparison, less than one in five Canadians were aged 65 or older nationally (18.8%) as of July 1, 2022.

Port Alberni’s population has now grown for nine consecutive years, following three straight years of declines in the early 2010s.

The median after-tax income of Port Alberni residents is well below the national average

The median after-tax income of Port Alberni residents was almost one-third lower than the national average in 2020 ($44,640 versus $66,800).

Over half of the income Port Alberni residents declared on their tax forms in 2020 came from employment (54.7%), more than one-quarter came from government transfers (27.4%) and just over one-tenth came from COVID-19 benefits (11.3%).

Health care and social assistance are the biggest sources of employment in Port Alberni

Health care and social assistance (2,070 people) was the biggest employer in Port Alberni at the time of the 2021 Census, followed by retail trade (1,500) and construction (1,165).  While Port Alberni is renowned for its forestry and fishing, more people reported working in the manufacturing sector (840) than in agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (740).

The unemployment rate on Vancouver Island and the Coastal region where Port Alberni is located stood at 3.4% on a three-month moving average in February 2023, down 1.7 percentage points from a year earlier and lower than the provincial (4.6%) or national (5.1%) averages.

Crime in the City of Port Alberni is almost double the provincial average

Crime in the City of Port Alberni, as reported by the local RCMP detachment and measured by our Crime Severity Index, stood at 175.96 in 2021, almost double the provincial average of 92.86. The Crime Severity Index in the City of Port Alberni rose for the sixth time in seven years in 2021. Nevertheless, the Crime Severity Index in the City of Port Alberni remains below the record high of 225.02 recorded at the beginning of the time series in 1998.

Violent crime in the City of Port Alberni was over double the provincial average in 2021 (243.79 versus 95.16), while non-violent crime was one and a half times higher than the provincial average (151.15 versus 91.82).

Conversely, the rural area immediately surrounding Port Alberni had a Crime Severity Index of 48.30 in 2021, well below the provincial average. In 2021, the Crime Severity Index in rural Port Alberni was at its lowest point since 2014 and was less than half the record high of 112.96 reported in 2006.

Violent crime in rural Port Alberni (63.07) was almost one-third lower compared with the provincial average in 2021, while non-violent crime (42.88) was less than half of the provincial average.