OTTAWA – New Brunswick’s population has dwindled by about 9,000 in the last five years, according to 2001 Census results released Tuesday.

The Maritime Province saw its population fall to 729,000 from 738,000 between 1996 and last year, a drop of 1.2 percent.

Saint John bucked the national trend of increasing city populations, dropping in size by 2.4 percent, or 3,800 people.

Bathurst, Miramichi and Edmundston also declined slightly in population, while Fredericton, the capital, gained 2 percent, or 1,000 residents.

Across the border, Maine’s population grew by 3.8 percent during the 1990s, according to figures from the 2000 U.S. Census, increasing the state’s total to 1.3 million.

Of Canada’s Atlantic provinces, only tiny Prince Edward Island showed any growth at all, a small 0.5 percent rise. Nova Scotia’s population slipped 0.1 percent, while Newfoundland’s fell 7 percent, the biggest drop in the country.

Quebec’s population growth slowed to 1.4 percent, the smallest census-to-census growth rate in the province’s history.

Quebec is suffering from a lack of immigrants and a drop in jobs in communities with resource-based industries, Statistics Canada suggested.

More than 7.2 million people lived in Quebec last year, up about 100,000 from 1996. About 52 percent of the province’s population was concentrated in Montreal and the surrounding urban areas.

Alberta’s population grew by 10.3 percent, making it the country’s fastest-growing province. It also has displaced Ontario as the destination of choice for Maritimers looking for steady work, demographers say.

Across Canada, census-to-census population levels increased by 4 percent – one of the slowest growth rates ever.

The 2001 Census counted just over 30 million Canadians.