Alberta led the country in population growth in the first quarter of 2025. (Photo: Wellesenterprises | Dreamstime.com)

By David Opinko

Alberta led Canada in population growth in Q1 2025

Jun 18, 2025 | 1:50 PM

It was a slow quarter for population growth across much of the country, but Alberta led the way with an increase.

Statistics Canada says the national population grew by just 20,107 people (+zero per cent) between January and the end of March 2025 to 41,548,787.

That is the smallest quarterly growth since the third quarter of 2020, when COVID-19 restrictions were in effect.

Four provinces and one territory saw their person counts decrease over the three months, while six provinces and two territories grew.

Alberta had the strongest growth at 20,562 (+0.41 per cent) to 4,980,659.

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It was also the largest benefactor of interprovincial migration, as Alberta saw a net gain of 7,176 people from other parts of Canada.

Alberta had its smallest overall population growth in the last few years, however, due to a decline in international immigration.

This past quarter, the province recorded 10,268 non-Canadians settling in Alberta.

Compare that to the third quarter of 2023, when the population increased by 60,383, with immigrants accounting for around two-thirds of that (40,730).

You can check the data for yourself using Statistics Canada’s interactive dashboard below.

More details on Canada’s population estimates for the first quarter of 2025 can be found here.

READ MORE: Canadian population growth continued to slow with almost no increase in Q1: StatCan

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