Turns out the Town of Nanton really is growing in size, not decreasing.

Census data released earlier this year said the town population went down by two people from 2016 in comparison with 2011, when it actually went up by 51.

Chief Administration Officer Kevin Miller says it makes a difference when it comes to getting grant money.

"I don't have a direct explanation of exactly how a number of houses were missed," said Miller. "My guess obviously is in the new subdivision that they didn't properly manage to enumerate all the houses that have been constructed over the years."

Miller added numbers, especially in small towns matter.

"It definitely matters. While it is not always necessarily a direct one-to-one relationship, population does tend to factor into almost all grant programs."

On the other side a few programs will cost more for the town to be a part of.

"There are a number of things and memberships that we have that are per-capita. So it will raise a few things up but the advantage on grants versus the disadvantage on cost is far greater to us than any negatives."

He said when the census came out it didn't make any sense because it didn't match what they were seeing in the real world.

There was some talk about doing their own census but Miller said they held off.

"Let's face it a simple inquiry and a simple of provision of information was able to solve it without having to go through a lot of time, energy and effort on our own behalf."