Annual Demographic Estimates: Canada, Provinces and Territories, 2020

Highlights

Total population

• Canada’s population surpassed the 38-million mark between July 1, 2019 and June 30, 2020 to reach an estimated 38,005,238 on July 1, 2020.
• The population increased by 411,854 between July 1, 2019 and July 1, 2020. This increase was lower than has been seen in the past three years, but was similar to the increase found from 2015 to 2016 (+406,579).
• The population growth of 1.1% was also lower than in the past three years, but was the same as was found from 2015 to 2016 (+1.1%).
• The main reason for the slower growth observed in 2019/2020 was the impact of the restrictions on international borders due to the COVID-19 pandemic on international migration and, to a lesser extent, the excess deaths due to the pandemic, both of which began in March 2020.
• International migratory growth in 2019/2020 (+337,283) was down from record highs set in 2017/2018 (+426,858) and 2018/2019 (+442,960). It returned to the level found in 2016/2017 (+330,106).
• Although lower than it was in 2018/2019 (83.9%), international migratory increase still accounted for more than 80% of Canada’s growth in 2019/2020 (81.9%).
• Lower levels of international migratory growth were due to a reduction in the number of immigrants (9.3% lower in 2019/2020 than in 2018/2019) as well as lower levels of net non-permanent residents (54.2% lower in 2019/2020 than in 2018/2019). The vast majority of immigrants and non-permanent residents came to Canada before the border restrictions began in March 2020.
• Natural increase (births minus deaths) was at the lowest level (+74,571) since the beginning of the current demographic accounting system (1971/1972). This is the result of deaths being at the highest level over the same period (300,314), due both to population aging as well as excess mortality due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• In 2019/2020, the population growth rate was highest in Nunavut (+1.9%) and lowest in Newfoundland and Labrador (-0.3%).
• All provinces and territories experienced a decrease in their rate of growth in 2019/2020 as compared to 2018/2019, except for Newfoundland and Labrador (-0.3%), the Northwest Territories (+0.3%), and Nunavut (+1.9%).
• Following four years of losses, Alberta posted interprovincial migratory gains in 2019/2020 (+2,183), according to preliminary estimates. While still posting a gain from interprovincial migration, the gain in Ontario fell from 6,629 in 2018/2019 to 363 in 2019/2020.

Population by age and sex

• Although the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in excess mortality among those 80 and over as well as a drop in the number of international migrants, these changes did not significantly affect the age and sex structure of the population over the year 2019/2020.
• The aging of the population continues, due to fertility being below the generation replacement threshold since the early 1970s and an almost continuous increase in life expectancy. The advancing age of baby boomers, the large generations born between 1946 and 1965, is accelerating this demographic aging. More than one in two seniors (55.6%) were from the baby boom generations on July 1, 2020.
• As of July 1, 2020, 18.0% of Canadians (6,835,866 people) were 65 years of age or older. The gap is widening compared to the number of children aged 0-14, which stood at 6,038,647 (15.9%).
• In 2020, the average age of Canadians was 41.4. The average age has increased by 4.1 years since 2000, when it was 37.3 years.
• As of July 1, 2020, for every 100 people of working age, Canada had 51.2 people aged 0 to 14 or 65 and older. The demographic dependency ratio has been rising steadily since 2009 (44.1).
• As of July 1, 2020, Newfoundland and Labrador was the province with the highest average age (44.8 years), while the lowest average age was recorded in Nunavut (28.5 years).

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