Canada Marks Most Rapid Population Growth In 66 Years

Thanks to an influx of immigrants in 2023, Canada has experienced its most rapid population growth in six decades, according to True North.

As of January 1, 2024, the nation’s population reached a staggering 40,769,890, marking a 3.2% increase from the previous year, the highest annual growth reported since 1957. Canada’s real-time population clock shows that the country’s population has now broken 41 million, just months after breaking the 40 million threshold.

In Q4, 2023 alone, Canada's population increased by 241,494 people between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31.

"In 2023, the vast majority (97.6%) of Canada’s population growth came from international migration (both permanent and temporary immigration), and the remaining portion (2.4%) came from natural increase," reads a report published last week by Statistics Canada.

According to the report, temporary immigration has primarily fueled the population increase - as a record 804,901 non-permanent residents, including temporary workers and international students, while 471,771 permanent migrants also arrived in alignment with targets set by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

According to a recent report by True North’s Candice Malcolm, the number of illegal migrants has exploded tenfold since Stephen Harper was Prime Minister. She said that the total number of newcomers in Canada is approximately 2.2 million people annually.

Amidst this rapid growth, interprovincial migration has also seen notable shifts, with Alberta recording a significant net gain, the largest seen since comparable data became available in 1972. -True North

That said, Ontario saw an exodus of 36,197 people to other provinces, which followed a loss of 38,816 people in 2022. 

Marc Miller, Canada's Immigration Minister, previously said that the number of foreign workers and international students had resulted in a system that was "out of control," and recently announced a new target to be introduced in September that would bring temporary residents from 6.2% of the population to 5% within three years.

Senior BMO economics Robert Kavcic suggested that this reduction could bring Canada's population growth from more than 3% to around 1%.

"The 400,000-500,000 range is just about the sweet spot for net immigration that provides needed long-run labour supply, while also being absorbable," he said.