Quarterly Demographic Estimates
January to March 2022

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Release date: June 22, 2022

Highlights

First quarter of 2022

• Canada’s population was estimated at 38,654,738 on April 1, 2022, an increase of 127,978 people (+0.3%) from January 1, 2022. This was the highest rate of growth in a first quarter since 1990 and is a continuation of the higher growth following the lower-levels seen in 2020, related to COVID-19.
• In most provinces and territories, the first quarter growth rates were the strongest since before the start of the pandemic. Three Atlantic provinces had their highest first quarter growth since at least the 1970s: Prince Edward Island (+0.8%) since 1963, Nova Scotia (+0.4%) since 1952, and New Brunswick (+0.4%) since 1975. This growth was due to both international and interprovincial migration.
• Two provinces and one territory reached milestones in their population size. For the first time, the population of Ontario surpassed 15,000,000 people (15,007,816), the population of New Brunswick surpassed 800,000 people (800,243) and the population of Nunavut surpassed 40,000 people (40,103).
• The growth rates were higher in the first quarter of 2022 than in the first quarter of 2021 in all provinces and territories except in British Columbia (+0.4%) and the Northwest Territories (-0.1%).
• Deaths in the first quarter of 2022 (87,163) were the highest ever recorded in any quarter since 1946, when quarterly data become available. The Public Health Agency of Canada reported 7,602 deaths due to COVID-19 in the first quarter of 2022, which is the second highest number of deaths in any quarter since the start of the pandemic (after the second quarter of 2020). Deaths during this period were 9.3% higher than during the first quarter of 2021 (79,766). This increase is due to COVID-19 as well as population aging.
• Due to the increase in COVID-19 deaths, natural increase (births minus deaths) was at its lowest point in any quarter since 1946. Newfoundland and Labrador (-707), Prince Edward Island (-40), Nova Scotia (-1,087), New Brunswick (-876), Quebec (-950), and British Columbia (-1,846) all had more deaths than births.
• Most of the growth in the first quarter was due to international migration (+127,034), which was at its highest level recorded in a first quarter. Most of the border restrictions in place over the past two years to curb the spread of the pandemic have now been lifted.
• Canada welcomed 113,699 immigrants in the first quarter of 2022, the highest number of immigrants in any first quarter since 1946. This represents a 61.4% increase over the first quarter of 2021 (70,467), and a 64.5% increase over the first quarter of 2020 (69,133). Immigration levels have been high for the past three quarters, resulting from higher Immigration, Refugee, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) targets.
• The net increase in the number of non-permanent residents (+28,689) was the highest in a first quarter since 2019 (+30,488), before the COVID-19 pandemic began. This was due mainly to an increase in the number of work permit holders. Most provinces gained more non-permanent residents than the previous quarter.
• The number of people who moved to another province or territory in the first quarter of 2022 (82,890) was at the highest level in a first quarter since 1975 (90,332).
• All provinces and territories had net gains from interprovincial migration, except for Ontario (-11,566), Manitoba (-2,229), Saskatchewan (-1,358) and the Northwest Territories (-145). The largest migration flows were from Ontario to Alberta and Alberta to British Columbia, and the outflow of people from Ontario to the Atlantic provinces continues. This is the sixth consecutive quarter that Ontario (-11,566) has had net losses from interprovincial migration, something not seen in the province since the continuous quarterly losses from 2010 to 2015. Quebec (+679) saw a net gain from interprovincial migration for only the second time in any quarter since 2010.

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