The Canadian population has never grown so fast over a one-year period in 2018-2019, Statistics Canada reported on Monday.
From 1 st July 2018 to 1 st July 2019, 531,497 Canadians were added to bring the total population in the country at 37,589,262 people.
This is an increase of more than one person per minute. The annual growth rate was therefore 1.4% in 2018-2019, the highest since 1989-1990 at 1.5%.
Canada's population growth has been most pronounced among G7 countries, according to the federal agency. That in the United States and the United Kingdom was 0.6%, ahead of Germany (0.3%) and France (0.2%). Italy and Japan recorded a 0.2% drop in their population.
Rise in Quebec
In Quebec, population growth reached a level not seen in 30 years at 1.2%, although it is lower than in Ontario (1.7%) and Alberta (1.6%). The largest increase occurred in Prince Edward Island (2.2%), while Newfoundland and Labrador recorded the only decline (-0.8%). %) for a third year in a row.
Among the provinces, interprovincial migration exchanges obviously have an impact, even though immigration is the major factor overall.
"Canada's sustained population growth is largely (82.2%) driven by the high number of immigrants and non-permanent residents. The difference between the number of births and deaths accounted for only a small proportion (17.8%) of growth, and this share is decreasing year after year, "said Statistics Canada in its report released Monday.
Older population
The population continues to age in Canada. As of July 1, the country has passed the 10,000-year-old mark for the first time. There were exactly 10,795 from coast to coast, 82% of which were women.
About 17.5% of the Canadian population was 65 or older. Children under 14 years of age made up 16% of the population. In Quebec, this group represented 15.8% of the population compared to 19.3% for seniors.
The proportion of seniors is lower in Canada than in all G7 countries, with the exception of the United States (16%).
Statistics Canada expects that 22.7% of the population will be 65 years of age or older by 2031, when the last baby boomers will reach this milestone.