Immigrants Help Canada's Population Grow to 40 Million
The population of Canada is now over 40 million people, according to government statistics.
Canada's annual population growth rate is now 2.7%. This is the highest rate since 1957, when the country had a "baby boom" during which many people were having children after World War II.
"This is an exciting milestone for Canada," said Anil Arora of Statistics Canada.
The population grew by 1.05 million in 2022, which was the first time in Canadian history that it increased by over a million people in a single year.
About 96% of this increase was because of immigration.
Immigration has been the main reason for Canada's population increase since 1995, and is an important part of keeping the country growing.
The country's natural birthrate has not been high enough to grow the population itself, and in 2015, there were more Canadians over 65 than under 15 for the first time.
So, the Canadian government sets yearly immigration goals to encourage people to move to the country.
Since 1988, over 200,000 immigrants per year have moved to Canada, and the government is hoping for 465,000 more in 2023.
A growing population like Canada's might be something to celebrate, but it has its problems, too — such as finding places for people to live.
Canada needs to build more housing for its growing population, according to Matti Siemiatycki, a professor at the University of Toronto.
"We are in a crunch. We haven't been building enough units across the country, especially at the affordable levels," he said in an interview with the CBC.
Canada's population is predicted to grow to 50 million by 2043.
