What Will Canada look like in 2050?
Since 1851, population growth in Canada has been defined by three distinct demographic regimes. From 1851 to 1900, the population grew slowly by a few million. High fertility was offset by very high mortality levels. Then, in the first half of the twentieth century (1901 to 1945), despite the two world wars, the growth rate generally accelerated, notably because of the settlement of Western Canada. Owing to the baby-boom and strong immigration, the second half of the twentieth century saw the Canadian population grow at an even faster pace. During the last 60 years (from 1946 to 2006), Canada's population went from 12.3 million to 32.6 million, an increase of more than 20 million.
More recently, between 2001 and 2006, Canada's population grew at an average annual rate of approximately 1.0%, mainly owing to strong immigration.
This growth is expected to continue in the coming decades, and Canada could have 42.5 million inhabitants in 2056, under the medium growth scenario of the latest population projections. However, Canada's population growth is expected to fall off somewhat, mainly because of a decline in natural increase.