Once a runaway train, Canada’s immigration-driven population growth has come to a grinding halt.
For the second straight quarter, the country’s population was little changed, compared with a quarterly growth rate of nearly 1% last year, according to Statistics Canada data released Wednesday.
Tighter immigration rules aimed at reducing the number of temporary immigrants drove almost more people out than new arrivals and natural births, with an increase of 47,098 people or 0.1% in the second quarter, the data showed. That’s a similar gain to the first three months of this year — and, except for 2020, the lowest growth rate in a second quarter since comparable records began in 1946.
The government’s plan to reduce the temporary migrant population appears to be working. The number of non-permanent residents dropped for the third time in a row, reaching 7.3% of the total population in the quarter, versus 7.6% at its peak. The decrease was driven by foreign students and workers leaving the country.
With half a year of essentially no population growth, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government must decide whether to keep its tight lid on inflows or bring in more workers. The country’s new immigration targets are due Nov. 1.
