Canada’s population growth slowed slightly in the second quarter of this year as the federal government sought to reduce temporary immigration to the country, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
It’s the first time quarterly growth has slowed since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 caused crossings to nearly halt as the government closed the Canadian border.
Canada’s population growth is almost entirely due to international migration.
In January, Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced plans to impose a soft cap on the number of temporary residents, which has surged since the pandemic and put pressure on the country’s housing stock.
Specific restrictions are expected to be announced this fall. In the meantime, the government is taking steps to reduce the number of temporary workers and international students in Canada.
Statistics Canada said the number of non-permanent residents continues to grow, but the rate of growth has slowed since October 2023.
“There was a net increase of 117,836 non-permanent residents in the second quarter,” the statistics bureau said in a release on Wednesday.
“This is the smallest net increase since the first quarter of 2023 and marks the third consecutive quarter of declines in the net increase in non-permanent resident numbers.”
Statistics Canada said the slowdown in temporary immigration growth was mainly due to changes to student visas.
“We’re seeing a slowdown, which is a good thing, it’s evidence that some of the measures we’re taking are working,” Miller said Wednesday.
Although population growth is slowing, it remains higher than any second quarter prior to 2022.
The country’s population reached an estimated 41,288,599 as of July 1, according to Statistics Canada.
Alberta recorded the highest growth rate among provinces and territories with a 1.0 per cent increase over the quarter, while the Northwest Territories had the lowest, increasing by 0.1 per cent.