The report says their growth rates are more than twice that of Canada as a whole and mark the first time in more than 20 years that the two fastest-growing metropolitan areas are both found in Atlantic Canada.
Statistics Canada says large urban regions experienced a significant rebound of their population growth in the past year, with many seeing their fastest rate of increase since 2001 or 2002.
The agency says most of the growth in Canada’s big cities is fuelled by international migration, which rose last year after being limited by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Montreal and Thunder Bay, Ont., grew at the slowest pace of the major metropolitan areas over the last year, with growth rates of 0.9 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.