As of October 1st, the population of Canada has officially hit its most recent height with an estimated 40,528,396 residents.
A recent study by StatCan says that in the third quarter of 2023 alone, the country saw an increase of 430,635, which is an increase of around 1.1%.
The last time the growth rate was this high was back in 1957 when the population grew by around 198,000 in one annual quarter. At that time the total population of the country was around only 16.7 million.
This was during a time that was known as the “baby boom,” which is the largest population of a single generation that Canada has ever seen until now.
According to StatCan, baby boomers make up 24.5% of the population, while the next highest populus is made up of millennials at 21.5%, followed by generation x at 19.1% and finally generation z at 18.3%.
Another contributing factor to the high population of the baby boomer generation was the influx of refugees from the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.
The population increased in total by 1,030,378 so far in 2023, up until October 1st, with three months missing from the count.
StatCan says the population increased in every province and territory with the exception of the Northwest Territories where the population dropped by 0.5%.
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The main source of increased population currently is the frequency of international migration to Canada.
In the third quarter of 2023, 96% of the population growth was attributed to migration. Only 4% was attributed to natural increase—the difference between deaths and births.
“The contribution of natural increase to population growth is expected to remain low in the coming years because of population aging, lower fertility levels, and the high number of immigrants and non-permanent residents coming to Canada,” reads the StatCan study.
In terms of interprovincial migration, people moving between provinces for work or better affordability, every single region lost population with the exception of Alberta at over 17,000 and New Brunswick grew by an estimated 21 people.
BC lost some of its population to interprovincial migration this year for the first time since 2013.
