b'NATIONAL CENSUSMAKING SENSE OFLooking at the THE CENSUS:By Vincent Vella results of the national census POPULATION through an Indigenous lensE very five years, thethe federal government, but fromCanada. It also provides strong Government of Canadaprovincial, regional, municipal anddatasets for First Nations, Mtis undertakes a momentouslocal Indigenous governmentsand Inuit communities. 1The task essential to the disbursementas well. resources required to reach out of good governancethe nationalto every individual in the country census. It may not be the mostAccording to Statistics Canada,and record various metrics fall on exciting subject for some, butdespite the barriers to in-personthe federal government every five counting the population, anddata collection, the nationalyears, with the last census occur-identifying where they live andcensus remains the most completering in 2016.who they are, is vital to providingresource of community-level data essential services, not only fromfor the Indigenous population inRecently, the 2021 Census profile on First Nations people, Mtis and Inuit was released, with further educational data to be released in November 2022. Key values in this release include population increases, regional distribution and growth rates as a whole and broken down by group: First Nations, Mtis and Inuit. Lets take a closer look at the numbers available and the major trends that will impact the next five years of Indigenous service delivery. By doing so, we can gain insight into what today looks like for Indigenous peoples, govern-ments and providers, as well as examine future trends.EXPONENTIAL GROWTH The Indigenous population in Canada has been growing exponen-tially for almost two decades. From 2006 to 2021, the growth rate for all Indigenous peoples was around 56 per cent, or four times the growth rate of the non-Indigenous population over the same period. 44indspiration2022'