Chart: RBC Economics<\/em><\/p>\nHowever, Atlantic Canada\u2019s natural population growth is still trending negative, but the latest rise in migrants is expected to \u201cfuel growth in the decade ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n
Currently, about three-quarters of Canadians live in a large urban centre, where this is a population of 100,000 people or more. More than nine in ten Canadian immigrants settled in these centres before the pandemic.<\/p>\n
From 2016 to 2021, Canada\u2019s downtown populations grew 11 per cent, which is twice as much as the previous census cycle. Still, the COVID-19 pandemic stunted population growth in some urban centres. For example, downtown Montreal and Vancouver saw their populations rise over the census period, but this growth fell off during the pandemic.<\/p>\n
At the same time, urban sprawl has also been on the rise, with suburbs located the farthest away from downtown areas growing faster than the urban fringes.<\/p>\n
Canada a top-performing G7 and G20 country for population growth<\/h3>\n
When analysing population growth, Canada ranks as top performer between other G7 and G20 countries \u2014 between 2016 and 2021, Canada was number one in the G7 and tied with India for the seventh rank in the greater G20.<\/p>\n
Canada\u2019s population has increased more than five per cent thanks to a surge in newcomers as the natural rate of population growth has \u201cslowed considerably in the last decade.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the first time since the 1940s, Maritimes outranked the Prairies by a hair in terms of population growth.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe marginal difference may signal a new trend, backed by higher immigration and record levels of interprovincial migration,\u201d said Freestone.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/kingston-rbc.jpg\")
<\/a>Kingston, Ontario. Photo:\u00a0Jacob<\/a> \/ Adobe Stock<\/em><\/p>\n