Permanent immigration slows in the first quarter of 2026
The population of Canada was estimated at 41,417,056 on April 1, 2026, a decrease of 55,025 people (-0.1%) from January 1 to April 1, 2026. Canada welcomed 83,149 permanent immigrants in the first quarter. This represents a decline of 20.2% compared with the number of permanent immigrants welcomed in the same quarter of 2025 (104,210) and is in line with the lower target established by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada for the 2026 calendar year.
Uninsured costs from extreme weather are mounting
From December 2019 to December 2025, homeowners' home and mortgage insurance premiums increased 45.0%. Catastrophic claims reached $8.6 billion in 2024, surpassing the previous record of $6.2 billion set in 2016. On the other hand, for every dollar of insured losses, it's estimated two to four dollars of uninsured costs are incurred, including damage to public infrastructure and costs borne directly by households through property taxes.
Public sector asset growth nearly five times that of private sector assets
At the end of the fourth quarter of 2025, the market value of assets held by Canadian trusteed pension funds reached $2.6 trillion, a year-over-year increase of $151.9 billion (+6.2%). The end of 2025 saw the value of assets held by public sector plans go up by $144.9 billion (+7.2%) from the previous year to reach $2.1 trillion. Meanwhile, private sector assets rose by $7.0 billion (+1.5%) to $460.6 billion.
Source: Employer pension plans (trusteed pension funds), fourth quarter 2025
Patient experiences with virtual health care in Canada
The COVID-19 pandemic led to a rapid expansion in the use of virtual care through telephone, video and other digital forms of communication. In 2023, most virtual appointments with family doctors or nurse practitioners (77.9%) and medical specialists (62.1%) were by telephone only. A higher proportion of patients used video only for appointments with medical specialists (21.8%) than with family doctors or nurse practitioners (9.1%).
Source: Health Reports, June 2026
Generative artificial intelligence is the most common automation technology used by workers
From September 2024 to July 2025, generative artificial intelligence (AI) (22%) was the most common automation technology used by Canadians at work, followed by natural language processing (11%), voice recognition software (6%) and machine learning (5%). Workers in occupations that typically require a bachelor's degree or higher (44%) were more likely to have used generative AI in the previous 12 months than workers in jobs that usually require a high school diploma or less (10%).
Construction expenditures set to rise in 2026
In the first quarter of 2026, contractors charged 3.6% more than in the same quarter a year earlier for non-residential building construction (average for all types of jobs) in 15 of the most populous census metropolitan areas (CMAs). The average change in price for the 15 CMAs varied by the type of job; structural steel framing (+10.3%) rose the most, followed by metal fabrications (+8.6%). Capital expenditures on construction of non-residential assets are forecast to reach $133.8 billion (private) and $140.2 billion (public) in 2026, both up from 2025.
Source: It’s construction season—and the price tag might be as bad as the traffic woes
Contact information
For more information, contact the Statistical Information Service (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).