Canada’s rapid population growth over the past few years brought headaches over housing and public services, but there is a bright side.
According to CIBC deputy chief economist Benjamin Tal, because of this influx, the country’s population is much younger than it was four years ago and in the long run that could prove to be a major asset.
Canada’s population has grown by 3.2 million people or 8.4 per cent since mid-2021. Since late 2015, it expanded by 5.6 million or 15.7 per cent.
However, unlike the baby boom era, over 95 per cent of that growth came from people coming from abroad, many aged 15-24 and much younger than the rest of the population.
“Simply put, the Canadian population (and labour force) was much younger in 2024 than it was in 2021, as a result of the distinctly younger profile of international migration,” said Tal.
“Never before have we seen such a dramatic change in the age pyramid in such a short period of time.”
The population boom, however, led to concerns about public services, housing and other infrastructure and last year the federal government cut immigration targets and clamped down on temporary residents.
The problem was the population expanded too quickly, said Tal. Half the population growth in the past decade and even more than that since 2021 was not forecasted or planned for, putting pressure on governments to provide public services.
“With the sheer scale of the population/capital mismatch in Canada, the public backlash was both predictable and inevitable,” he said.
Productivity also suffered because a large share of the new arrivals were non-permanent residents, many of them working fewer hours for lower wages. Without this surge in temporary residents overall gross domestic product
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