January 1, 2024 — Thanks to international migration, Canada’s population increased to 40,528,396 as of October 1, 2023.
Statistics Canada reported on December 19, 2023 that the number represents a gain of 430,635 people or a quarterly growth rate of 1.1 percent from July 1 of the same year.
The federal agency noted that this was the “highest population growth rate in any quarter since the second quarter of 1957 (+1.2%), when Canada's population grew by 198,000 people”.
“At the time,” the agency related, “Canada's population was 16.7 million people, and this rapid population growth resulted from the high number of births during the post-war baby boom and high immigration of refugees following the Hungarian Revolution in 1956.”
Marc Miller, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
Moreover, “Canada's total population growth for the first nine months of 2023 (+1,030,378 people) had already exceeded the total growth for any other full-year period since Confederation in 1867, including 2022, when there was a record growth.”
International migration by new permanent and non-permanent remains the main source of Canada's population growth.
“In the third quarter of 2023,” Statistics Canada reported, “the vast majority (96.0%) of the population growth was due to international migration.”
“The rest of this gain (4.0%) was the result of natural increase, or the difference between the number of births and deaths. The contribution of natural increase to population growth is expected to remain low in the coming years because of population aging, lower fertility levels, and the high number of immigrants and non-permanent residents coming to Canada.”
Canada welcomed 107,972 new permanent residents in the third quarter.
Statistics Canada reported that from January to September 2023, immigration reached 79.8 percent (371,299) of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada's (IRCC) target of 465,000 permanent residents for the year 2023.
Meanwhile, non-permanent residents are those with work and study permit holders, and refugee claimants.
Earlier on December 7, IRCC announced that the federal government will more than double the cost-of-living financial requirements for international students starting January 1, 2024.
Marc Miller, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, explained that the measure will ensure that international students will be financially prepared for life in Canada.
The current cost-of-living requirement of $10,000 for a single applicant will increase to $20,635.
This new requirement will apply to new study permit applications received on or after January 1, 2024.
The move is likely to result in a decrease in the number of international students bound for Canada.
Moreover, the federal government is anticipated to announce changes in regulations for temporary foreign workers in 2024.
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