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More residents moving into apartments: census

Single-detached homes are still the most common dwelling according to Statistics Canada’s 2016 census
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More North Coast residents are living in apartments than they were five years ago.

Statistics Canada released its first set of data on the types of dwellings people live in. While the trend remains the same in Prince Rupert with most residents living in single-detached homes, there is a shift toward moving into apartments.

Since 2011, there have a number of house and apartments fires, as well as derelict homes that have been condemned or torn down which may explain why the total of private dwellings dropped from 5,185 to 5,105.

Federal data reports a 2.6 per cent decrease in the number of residents in single-detached homes and a 7.4 per cent drop in residents living in a duplex apartment.

There has also been a 2.5 per cent increase of residents living in apartment buildings yet a 16.6 per cent drop in the number of residents living in a mobile dwelling.

In 2016, there were 815 apartments fewer than five storeys, yet oddly enough, the data shows there are 30 apartments with five or more storeys.

RELATED: B.C. SHIFT FROM SINGLE-FAMILY HOMES CONTINUES: CENSUS

The average household size is 2.5 people, but there are 660 households with four people and 455 households with five or more people.

Statistics Canada will release another housing analysis in October that will examine housing characteristics, such as homeownership, utility costs and affordablity.