Components of natural increase, quarterly: births and deaths.

The annual population growth in Canada stood at 2.93 percent in 2023. Between 1961 and 2023, the population growth rose by 0.93 percentage points, though the increase followed an uneven trajectory rather than a consistent upward trend.

Components of population growth, annual: births, deaths, immigrants, emigrants, returning emigrants, net temporary emigrants, net interprovincial migration, net non-permanent residents, residual deviation.

The statistic shows the total population in Canada from 2020 to 2024, with projections up until 2030. In 2024, the total population in Canada amounted to about 41.14 million inhabitants. Population of Canada Canada ranks second among the largest countries in the world in terms of area size, right behind Russia, despite having a relatively low total population. The reason for this is that most of Canada remains uninhabited due to inhospitable conditions. Approximately 90 percent of all Canadians live within about 160 km of the U.S. border because of better living conditions and larger cities. On a year to year basis, Canada’s total population has continued to increase, although not dramatically. Population growth as of 2012 has amounted to its highest values in the past decade, reaching a peak in 2009, but was unstable and constantly fluctuating. Simultaneously, Canada’s fertility rate dropped slightly between 2009 and 2011, after experiencing a decade high birth rate in 2008. Standard of living in Canada has remained stable and has kept the country as one of the top 20 countries with the highest Human Development Index rating. The Human Development Index (HDI) measures quality of life based on several indicators, such as life expectancy at birth, literacy rate, education levels and gross national income per capita. Canada has a relatively high life expectancy compared to many other international countries, earning a spot in the top 20 countries and beating out countries such as the United States and the UK. From an economic standpoint, Canada has been slowly recovering from the 2008 financial crisis. Unemployment has gradually decreased, after reaching a decade high in 2009. Additionally, GDP has dramatically increased since 2009 and is expected to continue to increase for the next several years.

Historical dataset showing Canada population growth rate by year from 1961 to 2023.

Graph and download economic data for Population Growth for Canada (SPPOPGROWCAN) from 1961 to 2024 about Canada, population, and rate.

Canada CA: Population: Growth data was reported at 2.932 % in 2023. This records an increase from the previous number of 1.812 % for 2022. Canada CA: Population: Growth data is updated yearly, averaging 1.145 % from Dec 1961 (Median) to 2023, with 63 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 2.948 % in 1971 and a record low of 0.554 % in 2021. Canada CA: Population: Growth data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Canada – Table CA.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Annual population growth rate for year t is the exponential rate of growth of midyear population from year t-1 to t, expressed as a percentage . Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.;Derived from total population. Population source: (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2022 Revision, (2) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (4) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Reprot (various years), (5) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database, and (6) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme.;Weighted average;

This Alberta Official Statistic compares Alberta and Canada’s population growth rates between the 1986 and 2011 Censuses of Population. Population growth is the increase (or decrease) in the number of persons in the population between two points in time as a result of natural increase and net migration. It is expressed as a percentage of the population at the beginning of the time period. In between the last six censuses, the growth rate of Alberta’s population has always exceeded the national average except between1986 and 1991. The growth rate was 10.8% between the 2006 and 2011 censuses, almost double the national growth rate (5.9%) for the same period, and 10.6% between 2001 and 2006 compared to the national average of 5.4%.

Number of births and deaths by County, with rates (per 1000), showing the the excess of births over deaths and the natural increase rate

Estimated number of persons by quarter of a year and by year, Canada, provinces and territories.

Canada CA: Death Rate: Crude: per 1000 People data was reported at 8.100 Ratio in 2023. This records a decrease from the previous number of 8.600 Ratio for 2022. Canada CA: Death Rate: Crude: per 1000 People data is updated yearly, averaging 7.200 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2023, with 64 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 8.600 Ratio in 2022 and a record low of 6.900 Ratio in 1992. Canada CA: Death Rate: Crude: per 1000 People data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Canada – Table CA.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Crude death rate indicates the number of deaths occurring during the year, per 1,000 population estimated at midyear. Subtracting the crude death rate from the crude birth rate provides the rate of natural increase, which is equal to the rate of population change in the absence of migration.;(1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2024 Revision; (2) Statistical databases and publications from national statistical offices; (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics; (4) United Nations Statistics Division. Population and Vital Statistics Reprot (various years).;Weighted average;

Estimated number of persons on July 1, by 5-year age groups and gender, and median age, for Canada, provinces and territories.

Annual population growth rate for year t is the exponential rate of growth of midyear population from year t-1 to t, expressed as a percentage. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.

canada - Population Growth for Canada was 2.93227 % Chg. at Annual Rate in January of 2023, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, canada - Population Growth for Canada reached a record high of 2.93227 in January of 2023 and a record low of 0.55390 in January of 2021. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for canada - Population Growth for Canada - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on December of 2025.

Contained within the 3rd Edition (1957) of the Atlas of Canada is a plate that shows two condensed maps, and three sets of graphs to show population change for the period 1851 to 1951. The top map shows the percent changes in population in eastern Canada for the period 1851 to 1901 (Newfoundland data is for 1857 to 1901). The bottom map shows the percent changes in population for Canada for the period 1901 to 1951 (Northwest Territories data is for 1911 to 1951). The first set of graphs show birth, death and natural increase rates per 1000 population for the period 1931 to 1951 for Canada and the provinces. The second set shows the changes in density of population for the period 1851 to 1951 for Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario, Quebec, the Western Provinces and Canada. The third graph shows the percent increase in Canada's total population by decade for the period 1851 to 1951.

It is presumed that the first humans migrated from Siberia to North America approximately twelve thousand years ago, where they then moved southwards to warmer lands. It was not until many centuries later that humans returned to the north and began to settle regions that are now part of Canada. Despite a few short-lived Viking settlements on Newfoundland around the turn of the first millennium CE, the Italian explorer Giovanni Caboto (John Cabot), became the first European to explore the coast of North America in the late 1400s. The French and British crowns both made claims to areas of Canada throughout the sixteenth century, but real colonization and settlement did not begin until the early seventeenth century. Over the next 150 years, France and Britain competed to take control of the booming fur and fishing trade, and to expand their overseas empires. In the Seven Year's War, Britain eventually defeated the French colonists in North America, through superior numbers and a stronger agriculture resources in the southern colonies, and the outcome of the war saw France cede practically all of it's colonies in North America to the British.

Increased migration and declining native populations

The early 1800s saw a large influx of migrants into Canada, with the Irish Potato Famine bringing the first wave of mass-migration to the country, with further migration coming from Scandinavia and Northern Europe. It is estimated that the region received just shy of one million migrants from the British Isles alone, between 1815 and 1850, which helped the population grow to 2.5 million in the mid-1800s and 5.5 million in 1900. It is also estimated that infectious diseases killed around 25 to 33 percent of all Europeans who migrated to Canada before 1891, and around a third of the Canadian population is estimated to have emigrated southwards to the United States in the 1871-1896 period. From the time of European colonization until the mid-nineteenth century, the native population of Canada dropped from roughly 500,000 (some estimates put it as high as two million) to just over 100,000; this was due to a mixture of disease, starvation and warfare, instigated by European migration to the region. The native population was generally segregated and oppressed until the second half of the 1900s; Native Canadians were given the vote in 1960, and, despite their complicated and difficult history, the Canadian government has made significant progress in trying to include indigenous cultures in the country's national identity in recent years. As of 2020, Indigenous Canadians make up more than five percent of the total Canadian population, and a higher birth rate means that this share of the population is expected to grow in the coming decades.

Independence and modern Canada

Canadian independence was finally acknowledged in 1931 by the Statute of Westminster, putting it on equal terms with the United Kingdom within the Commonwealth; virtually granting independence and sovereignty until the Canada Act of 1982 formalized it. Over the past century, Canada has had a relatively stable political system and economy (although it was hit particularly badly by the Wall Street Crash of 1929). Canada entered the First World War with Britain, and as an independent Allied Power in the Second World War; Canadian forces played pivotal roles in a number of campaigns, notably Canada's Hundred Days in WWI, and the country lost more than 100,000 men across both conflicts. The economy boomed in the aftermath of the Second World War, and a stream of socially democratic programs such as universal health care and the Canadian pension plan were introduced, which contributed to a rise in the standard of living. The post war period also saw various territories deciding to join Canada, with Newfoundland joining in 1949, and Nunavut in 1999. Today Canada is among the most highly ranked in countries in terms of civil liberties, quality of life and economic growth. It promotes and welcomes immigrants from all over the world and, as a result, it has one of the most ethnically diverse and multicultural populations of any country in the world. As of 2020, Canada's population stands at around 38 million people, and continues to grow due to high migration levels and life expectancy, and a steady birth rate.

Statistics Canada has published five sets of population projections for Canada, provinces and territories since 1974, with the last report in 1994. The projections issued on a regular basis ensure methodologically and numerically consistent and comparable population projections at the national and provincial/territorial level. This report contains Statistics Canada's first population projections to the year 2026. It also describes the methodology and the assumptions and provides a brief analysis of the results. The projections in this report use the 2000 preliminary population estimates as their base which are based on the 1996 Census. They take into account emerging demographic trends, primarily based on recent changes in the components of population growth. These include the notable changes in immigration target levels, a further reduction in fertility level, a continued increase in life expectancy, and significant changes in interprovincial migration trends, especially the reduction of out-migration trends in the Atlantic provinces.There has also been a significant upward revision in emigration estimates since 1996. The new projections take into consideration the impact of this change on the dynamics of future population growth. For current population projections for Canada, provinces, and territories data refer to Statistics Canada Access data here

Canada CA: GDP: Growth: Adjusted Net National Income per Capita data was reported at 8.279 % in 2021. This records an increase from the previous number of -8.393 % for 2020. Canada CA: GDP: Growth: Adjusted Net National Income per Capita data is updated yearly, averaging 1.884 % from Dec 1971 (Median) to 2021, with 51 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 8.279 % in 2021 and a record low of -8.393 % in 2020. Canada CA: GDP: Growth: Adjusted Net National Income per Capita data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Canada – Table CA.World Bank.WDI: Gross Domestic Product: Annual Growth Rate. Adjusted net national income is GNI minus consumption of fixed capital and natural resources depletion.;World Bank staff estimates based on sources and methods in World Bank's 'The Changing Wealth of Nations: Measuring Sustainable Development in the New Millennium' (2011).;Weighted average;

Projected population according to various scenarios, age groups and gender, Canada, provinces and territories.

Contained within the 3rd Edition (1957) of the Atlas of Canada is a plate that shows two condensed maps, and three sets of graphs to show population change for the period 1851 to 1951. The top map shows the percent changes in population in eastern Canada for the period 1851 to 1901 (Newfoundland data is for 1857 to 1901). The bottom map shows the percent changes in population for Canada for the period 1901 to 1951 (Northwest Territories data is for 1911 to 1951). The first set of graphs show birth, death and natural increase rates per 1000 population for the period 1931 to 1951 for Canada and the provinces. The second set shows the changes in density of population for the period 1851 to 1951 for Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario, Quebec, the Western Provinces and Canada. The third graph shows the percent increase in Canada's total population by decade for the period 1851 to 1951.