ABSTRACT
Assessment of the demographic impacts of resource developments represents one of the most important steps in the socioeconomic assessment process. Determining the number and the characteristics of people moving to each geographical entity in the impact area is essential for assessing other population-related impacts such as public service demands, fiscal impacts, and social impacts. The conceptual and methodological alternatives for projecting population change are widely known, and numerous excellent works describing specific projection alternatives are available. Population estimates refer to population data obtained for periods which fall between dates for which actual population counts are available, such as estimates for 1975 obtained by using 1970 and 1980 census data, or determinations of population for dates that are only a few years past the last population count and for which data on actual counts could hypothetically have been obtained. There are numerous alternatives for classifying population projection techniques, but one of the most useful classification schemes is that presented by Irwin.
