Saskatoon’s population is expected to reach 380,650 by 2035, according to a projection released by the city Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Saskatoon census metropolitan area is projected to reach a population of 448,985.

To meet the growth, the city says it will need to build six new neighbourhoods and 24,000 homes by 2025.

“It is an exciting time for Saskatoon,” the city’s director of planning and development, Lesley Anderson, said in a news release.

“Some of our recently adopted long-range plans, such as the Growth Plan to Half a Million, will be integral in setting our City up for the future.”

Based on the annual growth rate of two per cent, the 20-year projected population growth indicates Saskatoon will see a large increase in the number of people over age 65 and an even larger increase of those over the age of 80.

The spike is due to the aging baby boom generation, according to the city. Saskatoon’s seniors population will increase from its current 12.8 per cent to make up 14.1 per cent of the total population by 2035.

The report included several other highlights:

• Net migration is forecast to account for 69.0 per cent to 74.0 per cent (62,000 to 122,000 people) of the population increase projected over the next 20 years.

• New neighbourhoods are typically designed to house 10,000 people. The medium growth scenario will require the equivalent of an additional six neighbourhoods and 26,000 dwelling units by 2035, assuming an average household size of 2.4 people.

• An increase of 28.8 per cent of children will be coming into, or already be in, the primary and secondary school systems by 2025, and 58.8 per cent children by 2035.

• The estimated median age is projected to increase from 35.8 in 2015, to 37.4 in 2035.

• The dependency ratio is 65 to 67, which is an increase from 58 in 2015. The city says population projections are also useful to community agencies planning for future service provision. The city’s Planning and Development Division completed similar projections in 1996, 2002, 2008, 2010, and 2012.

The Planning and Development Division regularly calculates population estimates for Saskatoon using information from Statistics Canada and factoring in recent trends in growth. Those projections aid city council and the administration in developing policy framework, long-range plans, and forecasting future municipal servicing needs and land consumption.

For more information or to view the full report, visit www.saskatoon.ca/sustainable-growth.