Canada’s population grew by over 1 million last year as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s administration, with the administration arguing it is using mass immigration to plug gaps in the country’s labor market.
According to figures published by Statistics Canada on Wednesday, the country’s population was estimated at 39,566,248 as of Jan. 1, 2023, with record growth of 1,050,110 net new arrivals last year.
Canada now has the fastest-growing population in the developed world, topping the charts of OECD members, with its growth rate only exceeded by a number of African nations.
The main reason behind the surge is the policy of mass immigration advocated by the Canadian government, with international migration accounting for 95.9 percent of all recorded growth.
Canada accepted 437,000 immigrants last year, while a total of 607,782 non-permanent residents were also welcomed to Canada with all provinces and territories recording a year-over-year net increase in the number non-permanent residents. Work and study permits, in addition to the number of asylum applications, shot up across the country.
The figures far exceed the half a million annual immigration target Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged to reach by 2025.