Highlights

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1. On July 1, 2009, Canada's population was estimated at 33,739,900, up 1.2% from July 1 of the previous year. The rate of population growth in Canada was up for the sixth straight year.
2. The acceleration in population growth in Canada was based on both an increase in the net number of non-permanent residents and a slight rise in natural growth.
3. The net number of non-permanent residents climbed sharply, from 51,100 in 2007/2008 to 70,400 in 2008/2009. At the national level, this was the highest net number of non-permanent residents since 1988/1989.
4. In 2008/2009, population growth in all four Western provinces was higher than the Canadian average. Immigration explained the more rapid growth in the West.
5. In 2008/2009, the population of Alberta grew by 2.5%, the strongest rate of growth in Canada. Alberta is the province that has attracted the highest number of interprovincial migrants each year since 1996/1997. This was also the eighth straight year that Alberta has posted the strongest population growth of any province.
6. With its population rising by 1.0%, Ontario now has over 13,000,000 inhabitants. This marked the third year in a row in which population growth in Ontario was lower than the national average. For a sixth consecutive year, Ontario has posted an interprovincial migration deficit.
7. Birth rates in the four Atlantic provinces were the lowest in the country, with Newfoundland and Labrador (8.8 per thousand) posting the lowest birth rate.