Canada’s population has grown by more than a million people in one year for the first time in its history, and that’s thanks to immigration.
Between 1er January 2022 and the 1er January 2023, the population of Canada increased by 2.7%, or by more than one million people (1,050,110), and thus amounted to almost 40 million, according to Statistics Canada. This is the highest annual population growth rate since 1957.
During this record year, the population had increased by 3.3% in one year due to the post-war baby boom and a wave of immigration caused by the Hungarian revolution in 1956.
In 2022, 95.9% of the increase is due to immigration, encouraged by the government’s efforts to alleviate the labor shortage, itself caused by the aging of the population, in particular.
Forecasts estimate that Canada will double its population in about 26 years.
Population growth is fueling housing shortages and straining infrastructure, the transport system and services.
Canada is thus at the top of the G7 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom and United States) in terms of population growth, and in the top 20 in the world behind a large majority of countries from Africa.