Canada's population shrank in 2025, says Statistics Canada
· Toronto Sun
It seems there are fewer people living in Canada, according to Statistics Canada.
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Last year, the country’s population dropped by 100,000 people, which marked the first time Canada has seen a yearly net decline in citizens since Confederation.
In the latest quarterly estimate released Thursday by Statistics Canada , the population consisting of landed immigrants and non-permanent residents was 41,472,081 on Jan. 1, which is a 0.2% decrease, or 102,000 people, when compared to Jan. 1, 2025.
While the population grew by more than 77,000 people in the first half of 2025, it wasn’t enough to outshadow the decline of about 180,000 people in the second half of last year.
Non-permanent residents slowed growth
Statistics Canada noted the reduction in the number of non-permanent residents was a great factor in “slowing population growth.”
The population of non-permanent residents in October 2024 was 3,149,131. Since then, that number has steadily decreased to 2,676,441 on Jan. 1, 2026.
People holding work or study permits, or asylum claimants and their family members, can be classified as non-permanent residents, per CBC News .
Legislation could affect numbers
New immigration legislation could affect the country’s population in the coming months, Statistics Canada noted.
Canada announced a temporary measure to help Quebec support skilled workers to obtain permanent residency.
The federal government also has plans to fast-track the transition of about 33,000 work permit holders to permanent residents in 2026 and 2027, CTV News reported.
Despite this, Statistics Canada projected that the population grown is likely to remain below fourth quarter figures from 2023 and 2024.
In comparison, the population increased by more than 80,000 in the fourth quarter of 2024. In the fourth quarter of 2023, the country’s population grew by about 257,000.
That growth was due to permanent and temporary international migration, CTV News reported.
Statistics Canada noted Canada welcomed 83,000 permanent residents in the last three months of last year. That number was the only positive growth rate in that time period, despite being 19% lower around that same time in 2024.
The number also helped to combat low natural birth rates. Between October 2025 and January 2026, there were 781 fewer births than deaths.
The overall population decrease from last year should be “interpreted with caution,” Statistics Canada noted, because the increased number of work extensions and study permits could lead to a larger number of updates in the next few months.