A spurt in Calgary's population growth, plus a strong economy and rising home prices is starting to make its mark on the city's rental vacancy and in turn could mean changes for the housing market.

The average apartment vacancy rate in Alberta's urban centres decreased from 4.7 per cent to three per cent between April 2011 and April 2012, according to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

Calgary is growing by leaps and bounds, and they've got the numbers to prove it.

According to the recently release Calgary Civic Census, Calgary'spopulation has reached 1,120,225 – an increase of 29,289 residents from April 2011. This represents a 2.68 per cent increase in Calgary's population, similar to the level seen in 2007 where population growth was 28,283 or 2.84 per cent. During the first quarter of 2012 alone, an estimated 26,910 people moved to Alberta from other provinces.