The Canadian flag flies atop the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

By Susan McNeil

Population changes

Sask population drops slightly in third quarter of the year

Dec 18, 2025 | 11:36 AM

Reduced immigration is leading to lower population levels across most Canadian provinces including Saskatchewan, but at lower rates.

In Saskatchewan, the quarterly population dropped by .06 per cent, which means it is still the fourth highest growth rate in Canada. Overall, Canada’s population dropped by .18 in the same time frame.

Alberta was the only province to experience overall growth at 0.23 per cent while Ontario saw the biggest decrease with a 0.41 per cent reduction, followed by B.C. at a 0.25 per cent reduction.

Quarterly population changes in Canada. (Sask. Bureau of Statistics)

As of Oct. 1, Saskatchewan’s population sits at 1,266,234 which is 725 fewer people than it had on July 1.

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Annual growth is still on the plus side, and Saskatchewan ranked third with an increase of 0.7 per cent growth.

Most of the population growth in Saskatchewan comes from international migration with just under 11,000 people moving from other countries. At the same time, the population increased naturally with the 594 people born.

2,806 deaths were balanced out by 3,410 births.

Alberta remains Saskatchewan’s biggest trading partner when it comes to interprovincial migration with 1,005 people moving from Alberta to Saskatchewan, but 2,195 headed west.

Canada-wide, preliminary estimates indicate the population fell by 76,068 people over the July 1 to Oct. 1 period to bring the number of people in Canada to 41,575,585.

The number of non-permanent residents in Canada fell by 176,479 in the third quarter – the largest decease since comparable records began in the third quarter of 1971. Net emigration amounted to a loss of 20,056 people.

However, the drop was partly offset by permanent immigration as Canada welcomed 102,867 immigrants in the quarter.

The natural increase, the measure of births minus deaths, totalled 17,600 for the quarter.

-With files from The Canadian Press.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

On Bluesky :@susanmcneil.bsky.social