Immigration drives massive Canadian population increase: StatCan

Statistics Canada says immigration is almost solely responsible for the largest annual population boom Canada has seen since 1957.

The newly released data shows Canada’s population grew by more than a million people between from July 2022 to July 2023, which represents an increase of about three per cent.

Canada also saw a massive 46 per cent increase in the number of temporary residents in Canada over the same period.

The Liberal government has set record-breaking targets for immigration over the last several years, but doesn’t set specific goals or caps for the number of people who come to Canada on temporary visas.

The estimated number of temporary residents in Canada now outnumbers the Indigenous population accounted for in the 2021 census.

The increase in temporary residents was mostly due to people with work visas, rather than international students.

In terms of actual numbers, the population growth over the last year is more than double the increase seen in 1957, when the baby boom was at its heights and there was a Hungarian refugee crisis.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 27, 2023.

Laura Osman, The Canadian Press