Annual Demographic Estimates: Canada, Provinces and Territories, 2019

Release date: September 30, 2019

Highlights

On July 1, 2019, Canada’s population was estimated at 37,589,262.
The population increased by 531,497 between July 1, 2018 and July 1, 2019, the highest annual increase ever observed in Canada’s history.
The population growth rate of 1.4% observed in Canada in 2018/2019 was the highest since the early 1990s.
In 2018/2019, Canada’s population growth remained the highest among G7 countries.
Last year, Canada’s international migratory growth was the highest on record (+436,689), surpassing the record of 418,273 set in 2017/2018.
In 2018/2019, international migratory growth accounted for more than 80% (82.2%) of Canada’s population growth. This proportion has been increasing almost continuously since the early 1990s (40.4%).
The high number of immigrants (313,580) along with the record increase in the number of non-permanent residents (+171,536) accounted for the significant international migratory growth.
In 2018/2019, the population growth rate was highest in Prince Edward Island (+2.2%) and lowest in Newfoundland and Labrador (-0.8%).
Compared with the previous year, the 2018/2019 population growth rate increased in Eastern and Central Canada, and in Alberta.
Following three years of losses, Alberta started posting interprovincial migratory gains (+5,542) based on preliminary population estimates. Ontario posted a positive interprovincial migratory increase (+11,731) for a fourth consecutive year.

Topping 10,000 for the first time, the number of centenarians (10,795) has more than tripled since 2001, as a result of increased life expectancy.
Baby boomers now accounted for the majority (51.1%) of seniors as of July 1, 2019. Baby boomers consist of people born between 1946 and 1965.
On July 1, 2019, 6,592,611 Canadians, or more than one out of six people (17.5%), were at least 65 years of age. The gap between this age group and the population aged 0 to 14 years (6,014,289 or 16.0%) is widening.
In 2019, one out of two Canadians was at least 40.8 years. The median age has increased by 4.4 years since 1999, when it was 36.4 years.
On July 1, 2019, for 100 working-age individuals, Canada had 50.5 individuals 0 to 14 years or 65 years or older. The demographic dependency ratio has been rising steadily since 2009 (44.1).
Among the G7 countries, Canada (17.5%) had the second‑lowest proportion of persons aged 65 and older, just behind the United States (16%).
On July 1, 2019, Newfoundland and Labrador had the highest median age (47.1 years), and Nunavut the lowest (26.2 years).