The City of Dauphin grew by 206 people according to the latest census.
Data revealed today shows a population of 8,457 in 2016, an increase of 2.5 per cent from the previous 2011 census.
Reeve for the RM of Dauphin Dennis Forbes acknowledges development as a major factor towards population growth in the area.
"It tells me that the hard work of past councils is definitely paying off, the City Council started an initiative about 10 years in promoting and in the RM we've tried to encourage development and residential growth and it looks like it's starting to pay off."
The RM of Dauphin went up to 2,388 from 2,200 in 2011. That's an increase of 8.5 per cent.
Meanwhile, the census shows Gilbert Plains has lost people.
Reeve Blake Price says they're quite aware they need to do something to bring people into the community, and they are taking a fairly aggressive approach to try and put some programs in place.
"We are taking steps to try and do some Main Street development planning, and I guess bits of initiatives to attract people back into the community, a lot more marketing of the community, that kind of stuff."
"We brought on a community development officer, and the role of that community development officer is to put together some kind of a long-term plan."
According to census data, Gilbert Plains had a population of 1,470 in 2016, compared to 1,623 in 2011. That's a drop of 9.4 per cent.
Nationally, both Alberta and Manitoba saw the highest growth in population.
