Lower immigration rates caused Canada’s population to slightly decline in the first three months of 2026, according to Statistics Canada estimates.

The country had about 41.4 million people as of April 1, which is a decline of 0.1 per cent, or 55,025 people, compared to the previous quarter. But the agency said its estimate is preliminary and will be updated in September.

Canada invited 83,149 permanent immigrants in the first quarter, which is similar to the previous quarter, but down 20.2 per cent from the same quarter last year.

The growth rate of the number of non-permanent residents, which includes newcomers such as foreign students, workers and asylum claimants, declined by 4.4 per cent compared to the previous quarter and there were about 2.55 million non-permanent residents in Canada as of April 1, according to Statistics Canada.

But the agency said it expects a larger-than-usual change in its non-permanent residents estimate in September because of the “rapidly evolving context and shifting international migration policies.”

The number of permit extensions given to newcomers to continue their stay in Canada increased over the past few months, but associated processing times lengthened, it said.

“As a result, updates of greater magnitude to recent non-permanent resident estimates may occur, which could lead to more pronounced upward changes to population estimates,” it said.

Natural population growth, measured as births minus deaths, fell by 155 people. A year earlier, the population increased naturally by 983 individuals.

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Canada has reported population declines in recent quarters after posting record increases in population growth rates during 2022 and 2023 in a bid to tackle job vacancies right after the pandemic. That’s because the federal government has placed curbs on the number of non-permanent residents and has lowered its permanent residency targets.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Mark Carney linked Canada’s sluggish economy to its declining population after the country reported two consecutive quarters of negative growth.

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