Canada has reported its largest population drop on record, which is being attributed mainly to a major decline in temporary foreign students and workers.
Statistics Canada said Wednesday the national population fell by 76,068 people, or 0.2 per cent, in the third quarter of this year.
The agency said the number of non-permanent residents in Canada decreased by 176,479 over the same period, a nearly six-per cent drop — the largest since those records began in 1971.
That decrease is mostly due to fewer international study permit-holders, Statistics Canada said, pointing to recent federal efforts to cap the number of permits issued per year.
Canada’s population now stands at 41,575,585 as of Oct. 1.
A Global News analysis of Statistics Canada data since 1946, when it began tracking population totals, shows just one other instance of a quarterly decrease.
The population fell by 1,232 people between the second and third quarters of 2020 — a time when the COVID-19 pandemic was still raging.
Since then, Canada has seen its population explode from just over 38 million people.
Statistics Canada notes the third quarter of 2023 saw the largest quarterly population jump since 1957, with 418,634 new residents in that three-month period alone — an increase of one per cent. Last year’s third quarter saw a 231,803-person increase.
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In this most recent quarter, the agency said every province and territory except for Alberta and Nunavut saw population decreases, with Ontario and British Columbia seeing the biggest drops of 0.4 and 0.3 per cent, respectively.
Ontario and B.C. are also home to the country’s largest international student populations, Statistics Canada notes, and the decrease in study permit holders nationally was “concentrated” in those two provinces.
Overall, Canada saw 73,682 fewer international study permit holders and 67,616 fewer joint study and work permit holders. The drop in sole work permit holders was smaller at 35,231.
“This trend is the result of changing government policies concerning international migration,” Statistics Canada said, linking to a 2024 news release from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announcing new limits on temporary residents.
Last September, Ottawa said it would further reduce the number of study permits issued in 2025 by 10 per cent from the previous year, as well as tighten rules around work permits.
The move was part of a planned 35 per cent reduction in study permits issued over two years announced in January 2024, with the goal of reducing the number of temporary residents in Canada from 6.5 per cent of the total population — the share at the time — to five per cent.
Statistics Canada says as of Oct. 1, non-permanent residents make up 6.8 per cent of the total population, down from 7.3 per cent on July 1 of this year.
It noted the most recent quarterly decrease was due to “record-high” numbers of non-permanent residents leaving due to expired permits, with 339,505 departures, compared to 163,026 new permit holders arriving.
There have been a total of 290,392 fewer non-permanent residents over first three quarters of 2025, the agency said Wednesday.
Only Nunavut saw an increase in non-permanent residents in the most recent quarter, with 10 more people added. The territory saw an overall 0.2 per cent population increase, matched by Alberta.
Statistics Canada noted that Alberta’s population increase was the lowest since the second quarter of 2021, “when border restrictions to slow the spread of COVID-19 were still in place.”
Wednesday’s release notes the number of asylum claimants and other protected refugees increased by 7,324 in the third quarter, marking the 15th straight quarterly increase and bringing the total number in the country to a record high of 504,767 people.
“Nevertheless, the increase in the third quarter for this group was the smallest since the first quarter of 2022,” the agency said, when 5,675 asylum claimants arrived.
Permanent immigration remained steady and helped offset the drop in overall population, with Canada welcoming 102,867 new immigrants in the third quarter.
Statistics Canada said the increase was in line with the government’s 2025-2027 immigration levels plan released last year.
That plan sought to reduce the number of expected new permanent residents from an earlier target of 500,000 to 395,000 in 2025, with further reductions in the following two years.
As of Oct. 1, Canada has welcomed 310,584 immigrants this year.
The latest federal budget includes plans to “stabilize” immigration levels between 2026 and 2028, keeping the level at 380,000 per year, while further slashing the number of temporary residents.
—with files from Global’s Uday Rana
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