Canada's population hit a new record high of 41,798,407 as of July 1, 2026. This marks a significant rebound in growth during the second quarter of 2026, adding about 80,000 people, or 0.2 percent, between April 1 and July 1. This growth reverses a period of minimal expansion in the preceding six months.

New permanent residents were the primary driver of this increase. Canada welcomed approximately 99,000 new permanent residents in the second quarter of 2026, contributing about 67,400 people to the overall population. This represents a 19 percent increase from the 83,000 immigrants in the first three months of the year.

Concurrently, the temporary resident population continued its decline, falling by just under 20,000 people from 2.80 million on April 1 to 2.78 million on July 1. This follows a larger decrease of 64,502 non-permanent residents in the first quarter of 2026. The federal government aims to reduce temporary residents to less than five percent of Canada's population by the end of 2027.

Canada experienced rapid population growth from 2022 through 2024. However, growth stalled in late 2025 and early 2026, with a decline of just over 7,000 people in Q4 2025 and an increase of just over 1,300 people in Q1 2026. The government has been actively working to reduce the temporary resident population since 2024, introducing restrictions on international students and temporary foreign workers.

International migration accounted for roughly 84 percent of the population growth in the second quarter of 2026. These figures demonstrate that Canada can sustain substantial population growth even as temporary resident numbers decrease. Statistics Canada will release the first population counts from the 2026 Census on February 10, 2027, which will offer a more definitive picture.