Section 1: Census metropolitan areas
Archived Content
Information identified as archived is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please "contact us" to request a format other than those available.
On July 1, 2011, just over two-thirds (69.3%) of the Canadian population (23,901,900 people) lived in a census metropolitan area (CMA), up slightly in the past 10 years from 67.2% in 2001.
Between July 1, 2010, and July 1, 2011, the population growth rate was much greater in CMAs (13.0 per thousand) than in non-CMAs (4.4 per thousand). For Canada as a whole, the population growth rate was 10.4 per thousand in that period.
The Toronto, Montréal and Vancouver CMAs totalled more than 12 million people. In other words, just over half of Canada's CMA population lived in one of these three major centres.
The CMAs of Saskatoon (25.7 per thousand), Ottawa–Gatineau (Quebec part) (19.3 per thousand) and Regina (18.4 per thousand) had the highest growth rates in the country.
For the second year in a row, the CMAs in Saskatchewan grewfaster than in Alberta
The Saskatoon and Regina CMAs saw their population grow at a relatively brisk pace in the 2010–2011 period. In terms of population growth, the two CMAs ranked first and third, respectively, at the national level.
With a growth rate of 25.7 per thousand, the Saskatoon CMA's population increased by 6,900 to a total of 272,000 last year. The Regina CMA had a population of 218,700 on July 1, 2011, up 4,000 from the previous year.
Net international migration was responsible for most of the growth in Saskatchewan's two CMAs. In fact, nearly half of the population increase in Saskatoon—and almost two-thirds in Regina—was attributable to this factor. Saskatoon's international migration gain totalled 2,900 (11 per thousand). For the sake of comparison, this was higher than the international migration gains of CMAs that are much more populous than Saskatoon, such as Québec (2,660, or 3.5 per thousand) and Kitchener–Cambridge–Waterloo (2,400, or 4.8 per thousand).
Strong growth continues in Alberta's CMAs
The population of Alberta's CMAs continued to grow, the pace of growth having accelerated slightly in 2010–2011 compared to 2009–2010. For example, Calgary's population grew by 22,700 last year, slightly more than the increase of 20,600 in 2009–2010. The same was true for Edmonton, as last year's increase of 20,800 was slightly larger than the previous year's growth of 18,500.
In 2010–2011, the two CMAs ranked fourth and sixth, respectively, on the list of Canada's fastest-growing CMAs, up from some positions from 2009–2010. The growth rates of Alberta's CMAs (18.1 per thousand for Calgary and 17.6 per thousand for Edmonton) were above the average for Canada's CMAs (13.0 per thousand).
Natural increase accounted for most of the population growth in Calgary and Edmonton. Net international migration decreased noticeably compared to 2007–2008 and 2008–2009, when it was the main driver of growth in those two CMAs.
Net interprovincial migration in Calgary and Edmonton increased in 2010–2011 after having been negative in 2009–2010. However, even though net interprovincial migration was positive, it was not as high as it was in the 2000s.
Population decline for the Greater Sudbury CMA
Population growth varied widely across Canada's CMAs. The average growth rate for Canadian CMAs was 13.0 per thousand, but some CMAs had below- or above-average growth rates. The population of only one CMA, namely the Greater Sudbury CMA, decreased in the 2010–2011 period (-6.3 per thousand).
The decline was due to a net loss in internal migration exchanges. While there were slight population gains from natural increase and international migration, they were too small to offset the CMA's deficits in interprovincial and subprovincial exchanges.
The Prairies stand out
All the CMAs in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba had population growth rates higher than the national average (10.4 per thousand). The only CMA in British Columbia with a population growth rate higher than the national average was Vancouver (12.9 per thousand).
By contrast, only nine of the 25 CMAs in Eastern and Central Canada (Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces) had growth rates above 10.4 per thousand. Six of them also had growth rates above the national average for CMAs (13.0 per thousand), namely the CMAs of Moncton (17.8 per thousand), Toronto (16.6 per thousand), Ottawa–Gatineau (16.5 per thousand), Oshawa (15.2 per thousand), Guelph (14.5 per thousand) and Sherbrooke (13.2 per thousand). The high growth rates of the Moncton and Ottawa–Gatineau CMAs were due to a combination of natural increase and net gains in the three types of migration exchanges (international, interprovincial and subprovincial). Net interprovincial or subprovincial migration was negative in some of the other CMAs, but total growth remained high as a result of international migration and natural increase.
More than nine out of 10 international immigrantssettled in a metropolitan area
Last year, 92% of Canada's international immigrants settled in CMAs. The proportion of immigrants who settled in non-CMAs was well below the non-CMA share of the population (31%).
While the proportion of immigrants who settled in non-CMAs remained small, it grew over the last decade from approximately 5% in 2001–2002 to 8% in 2010–2011.
The CMAs of Montréal (17.6%), Toronto (31.6%) and Vancouver (13.0%) took in nearly two-thirds of all new immigrants in 2010–2011. The proportion of immigrants in the three major CMAs has changed in the last 10 years. Montréal is the only major CMA in which the proportion of immigrants increased (by 4.6% over the period, from 13.0% in 2001–2002). In the Vancouver CMA, the proportion dropped slightly, by 0.4% over the 10 years, from 13.4% in 2001–2002. The Toronto CMA had the largest drop: 16.3% over the period, from 47.9% in 2001–2002.
Of the international immigrants who came to Canada in 2010–2011, the proportion that settled in Calgary (6.0%), Winnipeg (5.0%) and Edmonton (3.9%) remained small, albeit greater than in 2001–2002. From 2001–2002 to 2010–2011, the proportion of immigrants to Canada settling in Calgary and Edmonton rose by 2.2%, while the proportion settling in Winnipeg rose by 3.6%.
The CMAs are aging, but more slowly than the rest of Canada
On July 1, 2011, the median age was 38.8 years for the population living in one of Canada's 33 CMAs, compared with 39.9 years in Canada as a whole.
During the period from July 1, 2001, to July 1, 2011, the median age of the CMA population increased by 2.1 years, from 36.7 years to 38.8 years. The median age in non-CMAs was 42.8 years on July 1, 2011, compared with 38.2 years on July 1, 2001, an increase of 4.6 years.
These trends indicate that, although aging affects all parts of Canada, it is not occurring uniformly across the country. For example, the population was aging faster in non-CMAs than in CMAs, as shown by the fact that the increase in the median age was twice as large in non-CMAs (4.6 years) as in CMAs (2.1 years).
For the purposes of this article, median age was used as an indicator of the aging of a population. The median age is an age "x", such that exactly one half of the population is older than "x" and the other half is younger than "x".
Alberta and Saskatchewan CMAs have the youngest populations
Just as in demographic growth, there also appeared to be an East-West divide in the relative age of CMAs: the younger CMAs were mostly in Western Canada, while the CMAs with older populations were generally in the eastern part of the country.
On July 1, 2011, Saskatoon was the CMA with the youngest population. The median age was 34.9 years, compared to 39.9 years for Canada as a whole. After Saskatoon, the CMAs with the lowest median ages were Calgary (35.9 years), Edmonton (36.1 years) and Regina (36.3 years).
Trois-Rivières and Saguenay are the two oldest CMAsin Canada
The median age in the Saguenay and Trois-Rivières CMAs was 45.3 years, higher than in any other Canadian CMA.
Other CMAs with a high median age are Peterborough (44.1 years), Kelowna and St. Catharines–Niagara (43.4 years), Thunder Bay (43.2 years) and Victoria (43.1 years). These CMAs are quite small, each having fewer than 500,000 inhabitants.
Figure 1.2: Population pyramid for CMA and non-CMA population for July 1, 2011
Saguenay, Thunder Bay and Trois-Rivières continueaging rapidly
In addition to having relatively high median ages, the Saguenay, Thunder Bay and Trois-Rivières CMAs are also noteworthy for the pace at which they were aging. Between July 1, 2001, and July 1, 2011, the median age increased by 5.8 years in Saguenay, 5.0 years in Thunder Bay and 4.2 years in Trois-Rivières.
All three CMAs had fairly small populations and are among the least populous CMAs. Moreover, in the Thunder Bay CMA there were more deaths than births, a sign of more rapid aging, and there was a net loss in interprovincial migration exchanges. Net interprovincial and subprovincial migration was negative in the Saguenay CMA; many of the immigrants were of working age. In Trois-Rivières, natural increase was small and net interprovincial migration was negative.
Saskatchewan's CMAs remain young
Between July 1, 2001, and July 1, 2011, there was very little increase in the median ages of Saskatchewan's two CMAs. The increase was just 0.3 years for Saskatoon and Regina.
In each of the two CMAs, there were far more births than deaths. They also posted net gains in international, interprovincial (except for Regina) and subprovincial migration. This was beneficial in every respect, helping to slow the population aging process.
- Date modified: