While population growth was seen in many parts of the country, census data released Wednesday show Calgary far outpaced the growth of Canada as a whole.

Statistics Canada says the national growth rate between 2006 and 2011 came in at 5.9 per cent, while Calgary’s census metropolitan area rose by 12.6 per cent over the past five years.

Bruce Graham, president and CEO of Calgary Economic Development, said the numbers didn’t come as a complete surprise.

“We knew we were going to show well because of what’s happened in our economy and the immigration we’ve seen year over year,” he said. “This helps reinforce our message to other parts of Canada that this is a good place to find a job and make a life.”

Mayor Naheed Nenshi said the growth, while encouraging, doesn’t come without challenges.

“For a long time, Calgary had really fallen behind the curve in managing growth and we were really struggling to catch up,” he said. “What we’re working on now is really getting ahead of the curve, not just in building infrastructure, but also in ensuring that we are … attracting talent from around the country.”