(Bloomberg) -- Canada’s population growth hit its fastest pace in five decades thanks to record immigration.
Over the past 12 months, the number of international migrants to Canada totaled 822,866 — by far the largest influx in historical data to the mid-1970s, Statistics Canada reported Wednesday in Ottawa.
That figure, which includes immigrants and non-permanent residents like students, pushed Canada’s annual population growth rate to an average of 2.3% over the past year, the fastest since 1972.
From July 1 to October 1, the number of Canadians grew 362,453 to 39.3 million, the agency said. That’s equivalent to 0.9% of the population, the fastest quarterly gain since 1957, when the country was in the midst of a baby boom and welcoming refugees fleeing the Hungarian revolution.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has consistently raised Canada’s immigration targets each year to grow its workforce. The latest plan is for the country bring in about 500,000 permanent residents annually.
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
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