Number of kids falling in Vancouver, census shows

The 2016 census numbers show clearly that the number of children living in Vancouver is falling.
The number of kids younger than age 14 dropped by 815 children from 2011 to 2016, even as the city’s population grew by about 28,000 people, or nearly five per cent. The drop in the number of children amounts to a one per cent decrease.
If the number of children had kept pace with the Metro area's overall population growth, there would be about 5,000 new kids on the block in Vancouver alone. But anyone who lives in Metro Vancouver knows those 5,000 kids have all packed up, with their parents, and moved out to Surrey, Coquitlam, Maple Ridge and Langley.
Last year, I wrote about Vancouver becoming a childless city, but the evidence was only anecdotal. Now it’s confirmed: kids are leaving Vancouver. And it could get worse. A recent City of Vancouver survey found that 58 per cent of families are considering leaving the city in the next three years.
Statistics Canada has laid it out nicely in a map, where people can clearly see the dark green areas in the outer suburbs where all the children are moving. West Vancouver, Vancouver and Richmond are all paler shades of green, which indicates fewer young people.
Children make up just 11 per cent of Vancouver’s population, whereas in Surrey kids account for nearly 18 per cent. In Coquitlam, it’s 16 per cent, a number that is nearly identical to the overall Canadian percentage of kids, which is 16.6 per cent.
Experts told me last year that a city without a robust population of youngsters will suffer both economic and social consequences, including increased isolation.
Abigail Bond, the City of Vancouver’s director of Housing Policy, told me in December that “it’s very important that we have children because their parents are often the people driving the economy of the city and the region.”
The price of housing is obviously linked to the lack of children in the city. Clearly, those who are staying are living in very specific areas of the city, like Olympic Village and Yaletown, where young parents can afford to live in a condo. Elementary schools in those areas are so full they turned neighbourhood kindergarten students away.
This demographic shift of children and their parents out of the single family neighbourhoods of the city and into downtown or the farther flung suburbs where they can afford homes is creating havoc with Metro Vancouver's schools. It’s no coincidence that Surrey schools are so full that 6,000 kids attend school in portables or that daycares housed in Coquitlam schools are being forced to close because the schools no longer have space.
Cities like Vancouver and Richmond, which kids are rapidly deserting, are left with tough decisions like closing schools. It remains to be seen what will happen in Vancouver and Richmond schools – both cities have many schools with plenty of excess space. They also have many schools that need seismic upgrades. Although both districts put school closures on hold last fall, the contentious issue is all but guaranteed to resurface after the election.
Meanwhile, what can Vancouver and Richmond do to attract more families? The answer seems clear: there is a pressing need to create more housing that is family-friendly and affordable.
tracy.sherlock@gmail.com