One-third of Canadians will be foreign-born by 2041 if immigration levels remain consistent, Statistics Canada says.
The number of foreign-born residents will be even greater in Toronto, outnumbering Canadian-born residents, according to a StatCan briefing note obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter.
“The non-permanent resident population living in Canada was estimated at 2,511,437 people, more than the total indigenous population of Canada,” the Feb. 7 document said.
“The increase in the number of non-permanent residents was mainly due to an increase in the number of work and study permit holders.”
The StatCan projection has actually declined since December 2023 when the agency
said it expected more than half of those living in Canada to be immigrants or Canadian-born children of immigrants by 2041.
At the time, StatCan
predicted the number of immigrants and their Canadian-born children could sit at 52.4 percent by 2041, or 25 million out of the 47.7 million forecasted population for the country.
Canada’s population is the fastest growing in the G7, and ranks seventh in the G20, StatCan also previously
reported. The country’s population now sits at more than 41 million, according to the agency’s
population clock.
Canada’s population
grew by more than 430,000 during the third quarter of 2023, its fastest pace of growth since 1957, StatCan said. Approximately 313,000 of those were non-permanent residents who came for work or to study.
In a 2022 briefing note, the agency
said Canada’s immigrant population made up 23 percent of the population, the largest proportion since Confederation, and could reach 32 percent by 2041.
Most Canadian cities saw immigration numbers
increase in 2023. Those seeing the biggest jump were St. John’s (81.2 percent), Saskatoon (69.4 percent), and Regina (68.6 percent). StatCan also reported that Alberta cities are now attracting more interprovincial immigration than British Columbia municipalities.
Vancouver saw its highest net loss to other provinces in more than 20 years from July 2022 to July 2023, Statistics Canada said. All cities in the province, except Abbotsford-Mission, saw fewer immigrants settle down than in the previous year during that time period.
Ontario cities also saw a record number of people moving out of the province for the second year in a row.
In Alberta, cities saw population growth as people flocked there from other provinces. Calgary, Edmonton, and Lethbridge saw their highest net gains since 2001/2002 and Red Deer recorded its largest growth since 2005/2006.
