Canada's population will hit record 40M on Friday: StatCan

Canada's population hits 40 million Statistics Canada demographer Patrick Charbonneau says record immigration helped Canada's population grow faster than expected.

Statistics Canada says the country will reach a new milestone on Friday as the population hits a record 40 million people.

The agency's Population Clock — a tool that models real-time growth using factors such as births, deaths and migration — will reach the 40-million mark just before 3 p.m. EDT, StatCan said in a news release.

"This is an exciting milestone for Canada," chief statistician Anil Arora said. "It is a strong signal that Canada remains a dynamic and welcoming country, full of potential. As we head into Canada Day, this is certainly cause for celebration."

Canada continues to lead the G7 in population growth, StatCan says, with the country adding more than one million people between January 2021 and 2022 for the most ever in a single year.

Last year's annual population growth rate of 2.7 per cent is the highest on record since 1957 when it was 3.3 per cent. At that time, a high number of births occurred during the post-war baby boom.

Based on current projections, StatCan says Canada's population could reach 50 million by 2043, sooner than previously estimated.

Permanent and temporary migration is largely driving this latest trend — both accounted for 96 per cent of all growth in 2022.

Every province and territory, with the exception of the Northwest Territories, saw their populations increase last year.

The country's Indigenous population has also risen 9.4 per cent between 2016 and 2021, much faster than the 5.3 per cent among non-Indigenous Canadians over the same period.

Indigenous Peoples in Canada accounted for five per cent of the country's population in 2021.