Canada saw little growth in its population in the first three months of this year, new data from Statistics Canada shows.
The data, released Wednesday, showed the population increased between Jan. 1 and April 1 by just 20,107, bringing the total number of people in Canada to 41,548,787.
According to Statistics Canada, it’s the smallest quarterly growth since the third quarter of 2020, when the population dropped by 1,232 in the wake of border restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It also marks the sixth consecutive quarter of slower population growth and comes after the federal government announced it would lower the levels of both temporary and permanent immigration.
Population levels decreased in Ontario, British Columbia, Quebec, and Newfoundland and Labrador, with Ontario and B.C. seeing their biggest quarterly losses since records began in the third quarter of 1951.
The six other provinces and two territories, however, saw population growth, with Alberta, Prince Edward Island, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut seeing a 0.4 per cent increase.
The population growth in Canada during the first quarter was driven completely by international migration, Statistics Canada says, because there were more deaths than births of Canadians.
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The agency, however, notes this is consistent with an aging population, decreasing fertility rate and higher number of deaths that “typically occur during the winter months.”
But while Statistics Canada points to international migration as a key reason for population growth, it also shows that Canada saw the largest reduction in non-permanent residents since 2020, when border restrictions were in place.
This group decreased by 61,111 as of April 1 to slightly more than 2.95 million residents, accounting for 7.1 per cent of the total population. But that number is down from the peak of 7.4 per cent seen Oct. 1, 2024.
“The decrease in the number of non-permanent residents in the country is counter to the typical seasonal pattern of an increase in the first quarter,” the report says.
The majority of the drop came from the 53,669 people holding study permits, with the biggest declines seen in Ontario and B.C., which have the highest number of permit holders.
The data showed that those claiming asylum or considered protected persons and related groups increased in the first quarter, reaching a record high of 470,029.
It’s not just non-permanent residents that have seen a reduction, with the number of new immigrants admitted the smallest it’s been in a first quarter in four years.
A total of 104,256 immigrants were admitted as of April 1, which Statistics Canada says reflects the lower permanent immigration target announced by the federal government for 2025.
Last fall, the federal Liberals announced they were reversing course on their plan to hold immigration targets steady for 2026, and said they would reduce the number of new permanent residents from 500,000 to 395,000 in 2025.
While the agency notes immigration remains high, it was still lower than recent years, with every province and territory except Newfoundland, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut admitting fewer immigrants compared with the first quarter of 2024.
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