Saskatoon population exceeded 300,000 last year, administration says

City administrators say Saskatoon’s population passed 300,000 in July 2023.

A new report before the city’s governance and priorities committee estimates the municipal population grew between 12,500 and 15,300 people from July 2022 to June 30, 2023.

Administration based its estimate on what’s called postcensal data from Statistics Canada, accounting for births, deaths and immigration in that time period.

According to the federal data, Saskatchewan added 30,685 net new residents, with Saskatoon claiming nearly half.

“The net population growth was due entirely to net international immigration, accounting for 114 per cent of the total population growth over the period,” the report says.

“It also shows that Saskatchewan took in an estimated 9,600 net non-permanent residents in 2023 … This is the highest level of non-permanent residents admitted to the province and 4.6 times larger than those admitted in 2022.”

In the same time period, Saskatchewan lost almost 6,400 people to other provinces, slightly lower than the average of 6,800 residents per year that have left for other provinces since 2014.

The natural increase in provincial population — births minus deaths — is at the lowest level since 2006-07, with a net increase of 2,100 people.

Administration says the low natural increase is due to falling birth rates.