By Jim Simmons

The recently released 2001 Census of Canada reveals that almost half of Canada's cities experienced population decline between 1996 and 2001.  How do cities in decline differ from those that grew during the five years?  What impact has population decline had on retail sales and the structure of commercial services?  This research letter outlines some of the demographic and other differences, including employment in services, between declining cities and those which continue to grow.  Using Statistics Canada SARTRE data on retail sales and data collected by the CSCA on commercial structure, this research letter examines the effects of population decline on both the level of commercial activity and on the retail structure.