Canada's Population Growth Reversal: Revised Numbers Show Increase

Canada's population growth story has taken an unexpected turn. After several years of spectacular growth, followed by a small quarter-over-quarter decline in 2025, revised numbers from Statistics Canada show that the country's population has been growing all along.

The update reveals that as of July 1, Canada added roughly 190,000 people since the same date last year, a 0.5-per-cent increase that brought the country's population to 41.8 million. This is contrary to previous counts that pointed to consistent and sizeable decreases.

The biggest changes occurred since mid-2025, where the agency revised Canada's population count going back to 2021. Under the old count, Canada's population shed 236,000 from that point to April 1 this year. With the update, Canada actually added 190,000 people instead.

Economists at National Bank of Canada attribute the adjustment in population to the estimated number of non-permanent residents. Statistics Canada revised that number higher after changing how it counts non-permanent residents leaving the country and those staying while permit extensions are processed.