Provincial Population Grows Again - Immigration Leading The Way

If you thought there were a few more people calling Saskatchewan home you would be correct.

According to Statistics Canada the number of people living in Saskatchewan, as of July 1, 2019, was 1,174,462. It represents a net growth of 3435 more people during the second quarter of 2019 (April - June) calling Saskatchewan home.

This is 53rd consecutive quarter of population increase which works out to 183,000 more people calling Saskatchewan home.

The major driver of the growth in population was International immigration which brought 4510 new residents to Saskatchewan. There was a natural growth in the population numbers – births minus deaths – of 1644 people.

The number was reduced with Saskatchewan losing residents to net interprovincial migration of 2719 people to come up with the estimated 3435 new souls calling Saskatchewan home from April to June of this year.

During the second quarter 8792 people left Saskatchewan whereas 6792 moved to Saskatchewan resulting in a population loss of 2719 due to interprovinvial migration.

Alberta was the primary source of Saskatchewan’s interprovincial migration movement (47.62 per cent of in-migration and 41.07 per cent of out-migration) during the second quarter of 2019.

The number one destination for Saskatchewan residents leaving the province in the 2018-2019 period, according to Statistics Canada, was Alberta where 9930 moved west to their new home.

“As we get ready to enter the 2020's, our government is planning for another decade of strong growth in Saskatchewan…this fall, we will release a new growth plan for the new decade, with new growth targets and actions we will take to achieve those targets,” Immigration and Career Training Minister Jeremy Harrison said in a statement.