Canada's Population Crosses 35 Million, Mainly Due To International Migration

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Canada's latest census data shows a 1.2 percent increase in its population, which crossed 35 million this year.

The report by Statistics Canada based on 2011 census data, released on Thursday, says on July 1, 2013, Canada's population was estimated at 35,158,300, up 404,000 over the last year.

This increase was similar to the annual average population growth rate of 1.1 percent recorded for the last 30 years.

Between 2006 and 2011, Canada's population growth rate (+5.3 percent) was the highest among the G8 countries.

Population growth for other G8 countries ranged from a 0.8 percent decline in Germany to a 3.4 percent gain in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Since 1993-1994, net international migration has been the main source of population growth for Canada. In the past one year ending June 30 2013, it was responsible for two-thirds of the country's population growth.

Population growth was lower in the Atlantic provinces and negative in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, while generally higher in the western provinces.

The slower population increase in Atlantic provinces was mainly due to a low natural increase and inter-provincial migration losses, which reached a six-year high.

Alberta recorded the fastest growth at 3.4 percent, which is attributed to record levels of international migration and migration from other provinces. Growth exceeded the national level in Nunavut (+2.5 percent) and Saskatchewan (+1.9 percent) too.

In the last 30 years,n, the population of Ontario grew almost twice as rapidly (+39.8 percent) as that of Quebec (+21.0 percent). Currently, three-quarters of Canadians were living in three provinces: Ontario (38.5 percent), Quebec (23.2 percent) and British Columbia (13.0 percent).

A greater influx of international migrants was observed in Ontario and British Columbia.

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