Canadian immigration fuelling fastest population growth in G8

A study from Statistics Canada reports that the country's population is growing faster than any other country in the G8 forum of the world's largest economies, mainly driven by Canadian immigration.

Canada visa

Canadian immigration has led to the largest population growth in the entire G8.

Canada is currently the smallest country of the G8, which also includes the US, the UK, Russia, Japan, France, Italy and Germany, but if current rates of Canadian immigration continue, that could be about to change.

The most recent report showed the country's population rapidly approaching 35 million people with a growth of 1.1% compared to last year. In comparison the US grew 0.7% Japan's fell 0.3%,

Immigration has been acknowledged as the dominant factor behind the country's growth with almost two in every three new Canadians being an immigrant in the past year.

Canada has made several changes to its immigration system in recent months in an effort to allow immigration and the country's economy to become more mutually beneficial.

While these changes will ultimately allow more English and French speaking, skilled and semi-skilled workers to enter the country, the changes have attracted some controversy, forcing Immigration Minister Jason Kenney to defend his changes in the Guardian this week.

"Our government has increased immigration to the highest sustained level in Canadian history, and the highest per-capita level in the developed world," writes Mr Kenney.

"We are making our system more flexible, allowing skilled tradesmen, semi-skilled workers and foreign students to become permanent residents for the first time."

The growth in population is not uniform with provinces in the west showing higher rates; Alberta's population grew 2.5% while Saskatchewan's population grew 2.1%.

"These numbers are very, very positive for the province," said Brad Wall, premier of Saskatchewan.

"They speak to a province that's growing and attracting people, not just from other provinces in Canada, but from around the world."

Fellow provincial politician Peter Bjornson, Manitoba's trade minister, also supported the report's praise for the Canadian provinces.

"The provincial government has worked hard to keep Manitoba moving forward through uncertainty in the global economy and to make Manitoba an even better place for families to put down roots and build a life."

Nigel Smith, immigration consultant at the Canadian Visa Bureau, said Canada's cities often unfairly take the praise on the international stage:

"While cities like Toronto and Montreal are world leading cities which offer a great way of life, Canada is the second largest country in the world and has so much more to offer, it's great to see so many people beginning their new lives in Canada in the provinces."

The Canadian Visa Bureau is an independent migration consultancy specialising in helping people make their application to the Canadian Embassy.