(Dreamstime)

By David Opinko

More Canadians left Alberta in 2020 than moved to the province

Mar 22, 2021 | 11:30 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – 2020 was certainly a tough year for most people and it was the kind of year that lead to more people leaving Alberta than coming to it.

Stats Canada has provided its final quarterly population update for last year.

Overall, Alberta’s population grew by 34,213 to reach a total of 4,436,258, an increase of 0.77 per cent in 2020.

Some of this is the result of natural growth – i.e., more people being born – while some people move to the province from other countries.

One interesting thing to note is interprovincial migration, where Canadians pack up their bags and head to a different province.

Nighttime construction on Hwy 3 in Lethbridge starts April 17

Apr 17, 2025

SASHA launches #BuyABed fundraiser to support vulnerable Lethbridge residents

Apr 04, 2025

$20K grants available: TELUS STORYHIVE Pan-Asian Edition opens applications April 1

Mar 18, 2025

In this category, Stats Canada says Alberta saw a net decrease of 2,152 people.

The only quarter in 2020 with a net increase was the first one. The second quarter had the largest decline.

In the most recent dataset, spanning October to the end of December, Alberta lost 1,293 residents to the other Canadian province.

At the end of Q1 2021, Canada’s population reached 38,048,738.

Growing by just 0.4 per cent nationally last year, Stats Canada says that is the lowest growth in numbers since 1945 and the smallest increase by percentage since 1916.

Largely due to COVID-19 restrictions, immigration plummeted in Canada and throughout most of the rest of the world.

In 2020, the country welcomed the fewest number of immigrants since 1998. 184,624 people moved to Canada last year, about half of what we saw in 2019.

The Public Health Agency of Canada also reported the most deaths in history.

309,893 Canadians died in 2020, about one in 20 of which were caused by COVID-19.

Stats Canada, however, remains optimistic about the country’s growing population as border restrictions are likely to be eased in the near future and economic activity will pick up.