Stock photo of Vernon in the winter from Becker Park (Liam Verster / Vernon Matters)

By Liam Verster

Slight Population Growths

“Gentle population growth” puts less strain on services: Vernon Mayor

Jan 22, 2026 | 11:58 AM

The population of Greater Vernon saw one of its lowest annual increases in more than a decade, but the Mayor of Vernon said that was easier to manage than a sudden influx of people.

Statistics Canada said the combined population of Vernon, Coldstream and Vernon rural rose to 73,500 people in 2025, up only 357 people from the year before.

However, Mayor Victor Cumming said he was pleased to see this type of population growth.

“Vernon’s strength over the last many decades has been its gentle growth,” the Mayor told Vernon Matters.

“When it’s gentle growth, it enables social integration of the new residents and the growth in services for things like health care, education and schools and other infrastructure. So it seats Vernon as a place that you want to come to, want to stay, want to live and want to work.”

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Cumming added that a gently growth also does not put as much strain on services or infrastructure as a sudden influx of new people moving in would cause.

“One of the critical benefits [of a slower growth rate] is that people who come here expect simple things like the road system to work, or sidewalks to work, or bus systems to work; they expect to be able to have their kids in school; and they expect to be able to find the right amount of health care if they need it,” Cumming said.

“All of these things are best done when we have a stable community and gentle growth. If it’s fast growth, then all of those things become slightly threadbare.

“We’ve all been around communities that have grown very rapidly and had those significant issues once they get that kind of growth.”

That being said, the new Official Community Plan does account for the population within the city climbing from 44,159 residents in 2021 to populations of 53,739 in 2031 and 62,366 by 2041.

That document has contingencies for growing the community to meet population projections, but the Mayor said the gentle growth allows the city to roll those out over a longer period and as needed.

“The plan is designed to manage for a certain number of people. So if the growth rates slightly less, then that gives us more runway, it gives us more time to bring along services, infrastructure and facilities,” Cumming said.

“So it really is positive when communities like ours can grow at a gentle rate.”

Cumming also reaffirmed that the city was planning for future growth, pointing to the new Active Living Centre as an example of a community amenity that would replace the recreation centre, which the city had already outgrown, and to how more housing was being built locally.