Canada’s population growth almost flat in 2nd quarter as number of non-permanent residents declines

Canada’s population growth was nearly flat in the second quarter of 2025, according to new data from Statistics Canada, following similar figures at the start of the year.

The country’s population ticked up 0.1 per cent between April 1 and July 1 of this year — the same rate as January to March — with the country adding 47,098 people to its population. According to Statistics Canada, that’s the lowest second quarter growth rate (outside of pandemic years) since 1946, when comparable record-keeping began.

Canada’s population growth almost flat in 2nd quarter as number of non-permanent residents declines. Photo: Statistics Canada (CBC)

The flatlining was mostly due to a drop in the number of non-permanent residents in the country. In the quarter, 58,719 non-permanent residents left Canada — the second largest quarterly decline since 1971 (also ignoring pandemic anomalies), the agency said.

This comes after the federal government made changes to their immigration policy in 2024 to limit the number of non-permanent residents allowed into Canada. This included reducing the number of temporary foreign workers allowed into the country and restricting when employers could hire these low-wage workers, as well as slashing the number of study permits given out.

Before that, the federal government had loosened restrictions on non-permanent residents when Canada was facing a labour shortage following the pandemic. As a result, Canada’s population ballooned by about 1 million people per year from 2022 to the beginning of 2025.

Statistics Canada said the number of people in Canada on work permits or study permits specifically dropped in the quarter, leading to the decrease in non-permanent residents. An influx of asylum claimants moderated the decline in the total number of temporary residents, the agency added.

This article is republished from RCI.