What is the fastest growing city in Canada?
Population changes are key indicators that municipalities use to plan services and infrastructure to meet the needs of their population, such as police services, public health services, housing, water and waste management, roads, transit, schools, and parks and recreation. Many factors influence people to move to or away from a place, including jobs, access to amenities, and the cost of living, among others.
Municipalities across Canada experience fluctuations in their population, with some growing considerably while others have seen dramatic decreases. Using data from Statistics Canada, we explore the municipalities (census subdivisions) in Canada with populations of at least 5,000 inhabitants that experienced the greatest population growth between 2015 and 2024, and the municipalities whose population decreased the most during the same period.
The fastest-growing cities in Canada
West St. Paul, Manitoba, tops the list of the fastest-growing cities in the country. In 2024, its population reached 9,424 inhabitants, a 77.21% increase from the 5,318 inhabitants recorded in 2015. It’s followed by East Gwillimbury, Ontario, and Langford, British Columbia, which experienced population increases of 73.51% and 63.74% respectively. The popular tourist city of The Blue Mountains in Ontario had the fourth highest population increase at 60.03%. Saint-Apollinaire, Quebec, rounds out the top five with a population increase of 55.85% during the same period. The chart below shows the top 25 fastest-growing municipalities in Canada.
Over half of the fastest-growing cities were in Eastern Canada (16 of 25), with Ontario leading the way (11 of 25). Ontario has the highest population of all provinces and accepts a large number of immigrants, contributing to population growth.
Canadian cities with the steepest population decrease
Between 2015 and 2024, Peace River D, British Columbia, experienced the steepest population decline among all Canadian cities with at least 5,000 inhabitants. During this period, the population decreased from 6,090 inhabitants in 2015 to 5,156 inhabitants in 2024, representing a decline of 15.3%, the highest in the country. It was followed by Athabasca County, Alberta, and Greenview No. 16, Alberta, which recorded population declines of 11.46% and 9.84%, respectively. Peace River C, British Columbia, ranked fourth with a population decline of 7.4%. Sainte-Anne-des-Monts, Quebec, rounds out the top five, recording a 6.29% decline in its population from 2015 to 2024.
Alberta has the most municipalities on the list of the 25 cities with the steepest population decreases, with nine, followed by Quebec with eight. British Columbia has three cities on the list, Manitoba has 2, and Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland and Labrador each have one.
