Housing
Canada Shifts West
New census figures show population dominance moving away from the east.
The first population figures from the 2011 Canadian census have been released. Overall, immigration is fueling much of the country’s population growth, its cities are showing sometimes huge growth rates, and for the first time, the majority of Canadians live in the western half of the country.
According to Statistics Canada, the country’s population is now 33.4 million people, an increase of 5.9 percent between 2006 and 2011. This represents the fastest growth rate among G8 countries. Two-thirds of the growth is attributed to net international migration.