Annual Demographic Estimates: Canada, Provinces and Territories, 2021

Highlights

Total population, July 1, 2021

• Canada’s population continued to grow despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, though at a slower rate, to reach an estimated 38,246,108 on July 1, 2021.
• The population increased by 208,904 between July 1, 2020 and July 1, 2021, corresponding to a growth rate of +0.5%. This increase was the smallest figure since 1945, and the slowest rate of growth since 1916, two periods when Canada was at war. By comparison, the population grew by 536,146 (+1.4%) between 2018 and 2019, before the pandemic.
• Reduced international migration due to border restrictions put in place due to the pandemic and mortality caused by COVID-19 were the main factors leading to the slower growth observed for 2020/2021.
• Population growth due to international migratory flows in 2020/2021 (+156,503) was at its lowest since 1998/1999 (+135,427). It was less than half the level seen in 2019/2020 (+362,558), the year that saw the beginning of the pandemic.
• Even at this lower level, international migratory flows still accounted for 74.9% of Canada’s growth in 2020/2021, down from 83.2% in 2019/2020.
• Lower levels of growth due to international migratory flows were due in part to a net loss of non-permanent residents (-42,884 in 2020/2021) where Canada usually sees gains (+76,349 in 2019/2020 and +168,501 in 2018/2019). Losses were particularly important between July and December 2020 (-70,203) with some recovery happening between January and June 2021 (+27,319) due to an increase in work permit holders.
• The number of immigrants in 2020/2021 (+226,203) was lower than what was seen before the pandemic (+313,601 in 2018/2019) which also contributed to the reduced growth from international migration.
• With a large number of Canadians abroad having already returned to the country by July 2020, the number of returning emigrants in 2020/2021 (+8,256) was lower than pre-pandemic levels (+39,091 in 2018/2019) and the lowest since at least 1971/1972.
• Natural increase (births minus deaths) was at the lowest level (+52,401) since at least 1971/1972, where comparable records are available. Population aging and mortality caused by the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in 2020/2021 seeing the highest number of deaths recorded for the same period (307,132 deaths, of which 17,688 were due to COVID-19).
• All provinces and territories had more deaths in 2020/2021 than in 2019/2020, except for Prince Edward Island (16 fewer deaths, -1.1%) and Quebec (3,473 fewer deaths, -4.8%).
• For the 2020/2021 period, population growth rate was the highest in Yukon (+1.9%) and Prince Edward Island (+1.8%), and lowest in Saskatchewan (+0.0%) and Newfoundland and Labrador (-0.2%).
• Most provinces and territories saw their rate of growth decrease for a second year in a row, except for Newfoundland and Labrador (-0.2%).
• Interprovincial migration trends from recent years have remained or accelerated. Ontario (-17,085), Manitoba (-9,685), Saskatchewan (-9,410) and Alberta (-11,831) each have seen significant net losses to other provinces, while British Columbia (+34,277), Nova Scotia (+9,949) and New Brunswick (+3,887) each saw important gains.

Population by age and sex

• Although the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in excess mortality among those 80 and older and a drop in the number of international migrants, these changes did not significantly affect the age and sex structure of the population throughout the year 2020/2021.
• Population aging continues, a result of fertility being below the replacement level since the early 1970s and an almost continuous increase in life expectancy. The advancing age of baby boomers—large cohorts of those born between 1946 and 1965—is accelerating this demographic aging. On July 1, 2021, more than one in two older persons (59.8%) were baby boomers.
• On July 1, 2021, 18.5% of Canadians (7,081,792 people) were at least 65 years of age. The gap is widening between this age group and the number of children aged 0 to 14 years, which was 6,018,084 (15.7%).
• In 2021, the average age of Canadians was 41.7. The average age has increased by 4.2 years since 2001, when it was 37.5 years.
• At the provincial and territorial level, Newfoundland and Labrador was the province with the highest average age (45.2 years), while the lowest average age was recorded in Nunavut (28.9 years).
• On July 1, 2021, for every 100 people of working age, Canada had 52.1 people aged 0 to 14 or 65 and older. The demographic dependency ratio has been rising steadily since 2009 (44.1).
• Particularly because of the increase in life expectancy, the number of centenarians more than tripled from 2001 to 2021, increasing from 3,522 to 12,822 people. For a fair comparison, for every 100,000 people, there were 11 centenarians in 2001—now 34 in 2021.

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