Toronto/CMEDIA: According to new data from Statistics Canada, Canada’s population growth was nearly flat in the second quarter of 2025 following similar figures at the start of the year.
Canada’s slow population growth is mainly attributed to a drop in the number of non-permanent residents.
In the quarter, 58,719 non-permanent residents left Canada, the second largest quarterly decline since 1971 (ignoring pandemic anomalies), the agency said.
Between Apr 1 and July 1 of this year, Canada’s population hiked up 0.1 per cent, the same rate as Jan-Mar, with the country adding 47,098 people to its population, he lowest second quarter growth rate (outside of pandemic years) since 1946, according to Statistics Canada.
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This followed the federal government’s changes to their immigration policy in 2024 to limit the number of non-permanent residents allowed into Canada, including reducing the number of temporary foreign workers allowed into the country and restricting when employers could hire these low-wage workers, as well as slashing the number of study permits given out.
Canada’s population saw a sharp rise of about 1 million people per year from 2022 to the beginning of 2025, due to relaxation of Restrictions on non-permanent residents by the federal government when Canada was facing a labour shortage following the pandemic.
A drop in the number of people in Canada on work permits or study permits specifically in the quarter, Statistics Canada said led to the decrease in non-permanent residents.
The agency added that an influx of asylum claimants moderated the decline in the total number of temporary residents.
