The population of Canada reached an estimated 41,288,599 on July 1, 2024. With a quarterly growth rate of 0.6%, this means that 250,229 people were added to the Canadian population from April 1 to July 1, 2024, reported Statistics Canada on Wednesday.
The federal agency said the growth rate was slower than the same quarter of 2023 (+334,606; +0.8%) and 2022 (+253,510; +0.7%). This marked the first time since 2020 that quarterly growth has been slower than in the same quarter a year earlier (Infographic 1). In 2020, population growth was almost halted following border restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the population growth rate in the second quarter of 2024 showed signs of slowing, it remained higher than in any other second quarter before 2022 (since the second quarter of 1972 when comparable data became available), it added.
Population growth from April 1 to July 1 (second quarter), 1972 to 2024, Canada
“Population growth in Canada in the second quarter of 2024 was almost entirely due to international migration (96.0%; +240,303). The remaining growth came from natural increase, or the difference between births and deaths (4.0%; +9,926),” said StatsCan.
“In the second quarter, there was a net increase of 117,836 non-permanent residents. This was the smallest net increase since the first quarter of 2023 (+97,845 people) and marks the third quarter in a row of smaller net increases in the number of non-permanent residents. While the total number of non-permanent residents in the country continues to grow (3,002,090 on July 1, 2024), the rate has been slowing since October 2023. This lower rate of growth was mainly due to a decrease in the number of study permit holders during the second quarter of 2024.
“Canada welcomed 134,138 immigrants in the second quarter—the highest number since the first quarter of 2023 (145,496).”
Among the provinces and territories, Alberta (+1.0% in the second quarter) was the fastest-growing province or territory from April 1 to July 1, 2024, for the fourth quarter in a row. In the second quarter, Alberta had high levels of international migration (+31,877), interprovincial migration (+9,654) and natural increase (+4,669). The slowest growth in the second quarter was in the Northwest Territories (+0.1%), where natural increase (+40) and international migration (+170) offset losses to interprovincial migration (-165), explained the federal agency.
“With the second quarter 2024 data released today, it is possible to analyze growth over the year from July 1, 2023, to July 1, 2024. The population growth rate was 3.0% over this 12-month period, representing an increase of 1,205,115 people. The growth rate slowed over this period, from a 1.1% increase in the third quarter of 2023 to a 0.7% increase in the fourth quarter of 2023 and 0.6% increases in the first and second quarters of 2024. This trend signals a gradual slowdown of population growth,” said the report.
“Natural increase (births minus deaths) has decreased in importance to population growth since the mid-1990s as the fertility rate has trended downward and international migration has increased. In 2023, fertility in Canada was 1.26 children per woman, the lowest level ever observed. More information on births, fertility and the most popular baby names in 2023 was released today and can be found in the Fertility indicators, provinces and territories: Interactive dashboard and Baby Names Observatory.”
Mario Toneguzzi
Mario Toneguzzi is Managing Editor of Canada’s Podcast. He has more than 40 years of experience as a daily newspaper writer, columnist, and editor. He was named in 2021 as one of the Top 10 Business Journalists in the World by PR News – the only Canadian to make the list. He was also named by RETHINK to its global list of Top Retail Experts 2024.
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