Canada recorded decline in population in 2025, dropped by 102,436
Canada recorded a decline in its population in 2025, the first time since the count began over 150 years ago, and the fall in numbers were primarily driven by lower intake of non-permanent residents including international students and temporary workers.
According to preliminary data released by Statistics Canada or StatCan on Wednesday, Canada’s population decreased by 102,436 people or 0.2% from January 1, 2025, to January 1, 2026. This reduction, the official data agency pointed out, was due to the reduction in population seen in the third (-76,068) and fourth (-103,504) quarters of 2025.
“Population growth had already begun to slow at the start of 2025, and the increase in the population over the first six months of the year (January to June, +77,136) was not enough to outweigh the losses observed in the last six months of the year (July to December, -179,572),” it noted.
StatCan told the outlet CBC News that it had never before observed a population decline over a one-year period since records began in 1867, when modern Canada came into being as a Confederation.
Canada’s population as of January 1 this year was projected to be approximately 41.5 million.
However, it warned that the overall decrease for last year “should be interpreted with caution” as “recent increases in the number of extensions of work and study permits” could “lead to larger than usual updates in the coming months.”
Much of the historic decline, if the numbers hold against future adjustments, was due to the steep fall in temporary residents. In the last quarter of 2025, estimates indicated that the number of non-permanent residents in Canada decreased by 171,296.
After reaching 3,149,131 on October 1, 2024, the number of non-permanent residents living in Canada steadily decreased to 2,676,441 on January 1, 2026. However, the potential impact of permit extensions mentioned earlier may lead to an update of the number of non-permanent residents for years 2025 and 2026.
“The decrease in the number of non-permanent residents living in Canada noted in the fourth quarter of 2025 was mainly attributable to decreases among people holding a study permit only, a work permit only, or both a work and study permit,” the agency stated.
Indians form the largest cohort in both the international student and temporary worker cohorts. According to data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, there were 393,530 new permanent immigrants to Canada in 2025 compared to 483,655 in 2024, marking a 19% reduction in their numbers. Much of the decrease was driven by the decline in immigrants from India, with their numbers going down from 127,375 to 98,770. The number of Indian permanent residents admitted to Canada rose from just 42,875 in 2020 to a peak of 139,790 in 2023.
Study permits issued dropped by nearly 25% or 131,010, with Indians accounting for a massive 72% of that fall. India is the largest source country for this category and their numbers feel from 188,175 in 2024 to 94,605 in 2025.
