Annual Demographic Estimates:
Subprovincial Areas, July 1, 2017

View the most recent version.

Archived Content

Information identified as archived is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please "contact us" to request a format other than those available.

Archived

This page has been archived on the Web.

Highlights

Census metropolitan areas

• On July 1, 2017, 25,893,686 people, or 7 in 10 Canadians (70.5%), were living in 1 of the 34^{Note 1} census metropolitan areas (CMA) in Canada.
• Between July 1, 2016 and June 30, 2017, the 5 CMAs in the Prairies were among the 10 fastest-growing CMAs, with Saskatoon (+28.3 per thousand) and Regina (+24.1 per thousand) topping the list.
• In the last year, several Ontario CMAs gained ground among the top 10 fastest-growing CMAs: Guelph (+21.7 per thousand), Ottawa–Gatineau (Ontario) (+21.5 per thousand), Toronto (+19.4 per thousand) and Oshawa (+18.0 per thousand).
• The overall growth of CMAs in the 2016/2017 period (+15.2 per thousand) is comparable with the previous annual period (+15.2 per thousand). International migration (including immigrants and non-permanent residents) was the main factor in the population growth of close to two in three CMAs in 2016/2017.
• The population decreased in the CMAs of Saguenay (-1.8 per thousand) and Thunder Bay (-1.0 per thousand).

Economic regions

•  Between July 1, 2016 and June 30, 2017, among the 10 fastest-growing economic regions (ERs), 4 were in the Prairies. Since 2008/2009, the Saskatoon-Biggar ER has been the only ER to have recorded one of the five highest growths in each of the annual periods. In 2016/2017, Saskatoon-Biggar (23.6 per thousand) had Canada's highest rate of population growth.
• For the second year in a row, the largest decrease in population was recorded in the Wood Buffalo-Cold Lake ER (-21.8 per thousand) in Alberta. Since the beginning of the observation period that in 2001/2002, the Wood Buffalo-Cold Lake ER had always been one of the five fastest growing ERs until 2013/2014. The start of the population decline in this ER coincides with the commodities downturn that began in 2014. This downturn was also associated with the rising unemployment rate in the province from the beginning of 2015, reaching a peak at the end of 2016.^{Note 2} Wood Buffalo-Cold Lake ER was also affected by Fort McMurray wildfire in 2016 which had important economic impact.^{Note 3}
• As of July 1, 2017, the Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine economic region in Québec was the region with the highest median age, at 52.5 years.

Census divisions

• For a second year in a row, none of the census divisions (CDs) in Alberta were on the list of the 10 CDs with the highest population growth rates. In contrast, there were four in 2011/2012 and 2012/2013, and three in 2014/2015.
• The largest population decline occurred in Wood Buffalo's Division No. 16 in Alberta (-40.6 per thousand).
• As of July 1, 2017, the Stikine CD in British Columbia had the highest median age at 56.7, followed by the Guysborough CD in Nova Scotia and the Haliburton CD in Ontario (56.6 years each). The Keewatin DR in Nunavut had the lowest median age with 24.5 years, followed by Division No. 23 (Pukatawagan 198) with 24.9 years and Division No. 22 (Thompson) with 25.0 years, both located in Manitoba.