Canada’s flatlining population growth reflects tightened immigration policies
Immigration cuts are showing in the latest quarterly population estimates published by Statistics Canada.
Between April 1, 2025 and July 1, 2025, Canada’s population increased by an estimated 47,098 (or 0.1%).
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This marks the weakest population growth rate in the second quarter of the year since 2020, when growth almost stopped due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Starting in 2024, the federal government implemented a suite of policy changes designed to curb the growth in Canada's population driven by immigration, including a cap on study permit applications, tightened eligibility for many work permits, a 20% cut in landings targets for permanent residents, and the first ever targets for temporary resident admissions.
This year, we've begun to see the impact of those changes. Look at the population growth in Q2 over the past four years:
| Year | Increase in population | Growth rate (%) |
| 2022 | 257,123 | 0.70% |
| 2023 | 321,791 | 0.80% |
| 2024 | 272,032 | 0.70% |
| 2025 | 47,098 | 0.10% |
Immigration accounted for 71.5% of the growth in population in the second quarter of 2025, down from 95.3% in the same quarter of 2024.
Drop in the number of non-permanent residents in Canada
According to Statistics Canada, most of this population growth in Q2 of 2025 comes from permanent residents.
The number of non-permanent residents in Canada dropped for a third quarter in a row, mainly due to measures introduced aimed at reducing the number of temporary residents in the country to 5% of the overall population.
The number of non-permanent residents in Canada by July 1, 2025, dropped to 3,024,216 or 7.3% of the total population – down from 7.6% as of October 1, 2024.
In the second quarter of 2025, the number of non-permanent residents decreased as follows:
| Study permit holders only | -32,025 |
| Work permit holders only | -19,637 |
| Those holding both study and work permits | -19,072 |
Some measures introduced by the government to reduce the number of temporary residents in the country since 2024 include:
- Cap on study permit applications;
- A pause on the issuance of low-wage Labour Market Impact Assessments in census metropolitan areas (CMAs) with an unemployment rate that is 6% or higher;
- Restricted eligibility for spousal open work permits; and
- Changes in Post-Graduation Work Permit eligibility.
Temporary resident levels in 2025 and beyond
In the latest Immigration Levels Plan 2025-2027, the federal government targeted a negative population growth, with the objective of reducing pressure on housing and social services.
The latest Plan was also the first to include targets for admissions of temporary residents: 673,650 for 2025, 516,600 for 2026, and 543,600 for 2027.
These figures take into account new work and study permits expected to be issued over each year of the plan.
The federal government aims to reduce the temporary resident levels to 5% of Canada’s total population by the end of 2026.
As per latest data released by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, measures introduced by the federal government have seen a decline in the in the number of temporary resident arrivals in 2025, as compared to a similar period in 2024.
In July 2025, new worker arrivals were down 37% and new student arrivals were down 55% compared to July 2024.
In total, there were 98,070 fewer new student arrivals and 137,000 fewer new worker arrivals between January and July 2025 as compared to the same period in 2024.
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