Population gains in Canada set record

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Canada’s population growth rate hit a fresh record, capping a year when one of the world’s largest immigration programs reached its top speed as pressures mounted on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government to slow down future inflows.

The population grew by 1.3 million people over the past year to 40.8 million, according to Statistics Canada’s estimate released Wednesday in Ottawa. That’s the fastest annual pace in Canada since 1957.

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At a 3.2 per cent annual rate, Canada has among the world’s fastest population growth, only behind a few African countries with high fertility. The country added roughly the equivalent of Estonia’s populace last year.

Only 2.4 per cent of the increase came from net births, and the rest was driven by international migration, primarily foreign workers and students. Without temporary immigration, Canada’s population growth would have been 1.2 per cent.

But with plans to cut the numbers of temporary residents and international students already in place, 2023 will likely mark the peak of the immigration-driven population boom in Canada. Economists have projected that the new restrictions would slash the rate of annual population growth by half or more.

Impressive population gains helped buoy Canada’s economy amid elevated interest rates, but the surge strained infrastructure and services, worsened housing shortages and sent rents soaring. Anxiety about the deteriorating standard of living forced the government to scale down its immigration ambition, a lesson for advanced economies relying on newcomers to stave off economic decline.

Separately, the agency’s real-time population clock now shows Canada’s population approaching 41 million, just nine months after it surpassed 40 million in June. It’s now some 14,000 people away from reaching a new milestone.

Bloomberg.com

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