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Highlights

1. On April 1, 2007, Canada’s population was estimated at 32,852,800, an increase of 75,500 compared to January 1, 2007. The rate of population growth observed in the first quarter of 2007 (0.23%) is similar to the same period in 2006.
2. Net international migration remains high. The decrease in immigration observed in the last three months compared to the first quarter of 2006 is offset by a marked increase in the number of non-permanent residents.
3. The distribution of immigration across Canada is becoming more uniform. In the last quarter, the number of immigrants either held steady or increased in all jurisdictions except Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. Proportionally, Manitoba received the most new immigrants (annualized rate of 7.8 per thousand).
4. Whereas natural increase was up in Alberta and British Columbia, it was increasingly negative in the Atlantic provinces. During the first quarter of 2007, all four Atlantic provinces for the first time simultaneously registered negative natural increase.
5. The population of Alberta continued to grow more rapidly than the rest of Canada, but its growth rate slowed somewhat. This downward trend, which began in the last quarter of 2006, extended to the first three months of 2007.
6. Canada’s western provinces all experienced population growth equal to or greater than that of Canada as a whole. Manitoba’s quarterly population growth was greater than Canada’s for the second time since 1986.