2019-10-01 – Immigration drove Canada’s largest real number of population increase in history in the last year according to the latest figures from Statistics Canada.
Canada’s population rose by 531,497 to 37,589,262 between July 2018 and July 2019, with immigration accounting for 82.2 percent of the growth.
The growth of 1.4 percent – which equates to more than one person per minute – was the highest since 1990.
It is also the highest among all G7 countries, more than double the rate of 0.6 percent witnessed by both the U.S. and the U.K.
Read More
Canada’s First Quarter Population Growth Dominated By Immigration
Canada Reliant on Immigration for Population Growth
Atlantic Canada Entering Critical Phase For Tackling Aging Population
Natural increases, or the difference between births and deaths, accounted for just 17.8 percent of the increase.
Figures show Canada welcomes 313,580 immigrants in the 12-month period – among the highest annual immigration intakes in history.
Although more immigrants (323,192) were welcomed in 2015/2016, that number included nearly 30,000 Syrian refugees.
Non-permanent residents grew by 171,536 in 2018/2019 – the largest increase in Canadian history.
Gains were mainly led by increases in work and study permit holders, while there was also rapid growth in asylum claimants.
Provincial Population Growth
Several of Canada’s provinces recorded population growth rarely seen before.
Prince Edward Island saw the highest provincial population growth in the country, with a 2.2 per cent increase.
Quebec’s increase of 1.2 per cent was the largest in 30 years, while Ontario recorded once of its highest-ever increases of 1.7 per cent.
Alberta also saw growth of 1.6 per cent, fuelled partly by positive inter-provincial migration.
Newfoundland & Labrador remained the exception, posting a population decrease for a third consecutive year, this time of 0.8 per cent.
