Canada population: Country grows by over one million people

Canada has had record population growth over the last year.

The government announced the population grew by over a million people for the first time ever.

Canada has been trying to increase the number of people living in the country to help grow the economy and increase the number of workers.

The country's population has grown from 38,516,138 to 39,566,248 people.

The increase in Canada's population is partly because the government has tried to bring migrants into the country to help with labour shortages, as there was not having enough people to work.

Nearly 96% of the population growth was due to migration - when people move from one country to another.

Statistics Canada, the government agency who keep track of things like who is living in the country, said that although the government has wanted to grow the population, it wasn't all good news.

It said the increase in the number of permanent and temporary immigrants could "also represent additional challenges for some regions of the country related to housing, infrastructure and transportation, and service delivery to the population".

In Canada, like in many western countries, people are living for longer and there are fewer babies being born.

This means if the country wants to grow its economy it needs more people to work, and immigration is one way to do this.

Last year the Canadian government announced that by 2025 they hope to bring in 500,000 new immigrants a year.

They've also been accepting people affected by conflicts like the war in Ukraine, the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.

In 2022 the country welcomed 437,000 immigrants and the number of non-permanent residents increased by 607,782.

Currently, about one in four Canadians have come to the country as an immigrant.