Members of the community gathered last Thursday afternoon in City Hall Park alongside Mayor Tara Veer, City council members, and City staff where it was announced Red Deer has reached a milestone population of 100,000 citizens, making it the first mid-sized city in Alberta to do so.

“Our final count from this year’s municipal census has Red Deer at a population of 100,807,” said Mayor Veer. “This is a transformative, defining, game changing moment – our City is taking our rightful position not only provincially, but nationally with all that we have achieved in terms of our leadership, profile, and contributions in sports, education, tourism, arts and culture, social and environmental sustainability, and as an economic engine and regional hub.”

Mayor Veer added the these opportunities and possibilities are made a reality by the continued growth of the City with the official census reporting a 2.2% increase in population from 2014 with the strongest growth occurring in the areas of Timberlands and Vanier with 529 and 425 new residents respectively.

“The foundation of our community is based on people engaging in community building – at this juncture in our City history we are building on the successes of the past and making the possibilities of the future a reality,” said Veer. “We have everything that a large city has to offer, but continue to keep the strong community life that we all desire – Red Deer is 100,807 strong.”

The milestone in shared community history was one Mayor Veer was proud to announce, detailing the community of Red Deer’s strong history which goes back more than 100 years and long before the official incorporation of the City to the Cree, Blackfoot, and Métis people who were later joined by European settlers.

City Manager Craig Curtis stated the City is currently the size of Calgary in the post-war era and with current growth rates he anticipates Red Deer will reach 200,000 in less than 20 years.

The City announced that in celebration of the reaching of the 100,000 citizen milestone, they will be launching a contest in the coming week to locate Red Deer’s 100,000th citizen. They urged residents who are interested in the contest to watch the City’s social media sites and web site for further details.

For more information, visit www.reddeer.ca.

jswan@reddeerexpress.com