Annual Demographic Estimates:
Subprovincial Areas, July 1, 2018

Highlights

Census metropolitan areas

• On July 1, 2018, 26,497,722 people, or 7 in 10 Canadians (71.5%), were living in one of the 36 census metropolitan areas (CMAs) in Canada^Note .
• Between July 1, 2017, and July 1, 2018, the five fastest-growing CMAs were located in Ontario. They are: Peterborough (+30.5 per thousand), Kitchener–Cambridge–Waterloo (+25.4 per thousand), Ottawa–Gatineau (Ontario part) (25.0 per thousand), Windsor (+24.8 per thousand) and London (23.9 per thousand). This is a break with recent trends, where the highest growth was generally observed in the CMAs of the western provinces.
• International migration was the main factor in population growth for more than three in four CMAs in 2017/2018.
• None of the CMAs experienced declines in 2017/2018. In addition, St. John’s is the only CMA where the population remained relatively stable (+0.5 per thousand).

Census agglomerations

• In 2017/2018, the three CAs with the largest population increases were located in Ontario: Wasaga Beach (37.3 per thousand), Carleton Place (32.4 per thousand) and Midland (29.9 per thousand).
• The Leamington CA (Ont.) had the highest rate of decline (-20.3 per thousand) of any CA for 2017/2018, followed by Estevan (Sask.) (-18.5 per thousand); Baie-Comeau (Que.) (-12.4 per thousand); Corner Brook (N.L.) (-10.2 per thousand); and Cold Lake (Alta.) (-7.9 per thousand).

Census divisions

• The fastest growing census division (CD) was Mirabel in Quebec with a population growth rate of 39.8 per thousand between July 1, 2017 and July 1, 2018. The CD with the largest population decrease was Stikine (-27.8 per thousand) in British Columbia.
• On July 1, 2018, Ontario’s Haliburton CD had the greatest median age, at 57.8 years, and the highest proportion of people aged 65 years and older, at 33.3% or one third of its population. Nunavut’s Keewatin CD had the highest proportion of people aged under 15 years (33.0%) and the lowest median age (24.5 years).