Canada experiences population decline for the first time

Reporting from March 2026 shows that Canada now joins numerous other countries worldwide with a declining population, as 2025 marked the first time the country experienced an annual net decline in residents.

Key Takeaways:

• Data has revealed Canada experienced a drop in its population in 2025, the first time a population decline has been recorded since statistics were first kept in 1867.

• The drop has been attributed to a decline in births, as well as a reduction in "non-permanent residents."

• Meanwhile, the country is one of the world's leaders in euthanasia deaths, and abortion is also widespread.

The Details:

Data from Statistics Canada placed the estimated number of Canadian residents at 41,472,081 on Jan. 1, 2026 — a drop of 0.2 percent (just over 102,000) from Jan. 1, 2025. A spokesperson from Statistics Canada told CBC News that it was the first time since 1867, when the population was first recorded, that the nation had experienced a population drop.

Like elsewhere, the population decline is partly attributed to a decrease in births. Though the necessary birth replacement rate is 2.1 births per woman, Canada's rate currently stands at just 1.25. A decline in "non-permanent residents" accounts for the rest of the population drop.

Experts warn that the population decrease will have long-term ramifications on the economy and the country's ability to thrive.

"Since the baby boom of the 1950s and 1960s, the birth rate in Canada has not been high enough to maintain, let alone increase, our population," explained Canadian economist Dr. Roslyn Kunin. "As a result, Canada cannot rely on natural population growth to support future economic expansion."

Zoom Out:

Conversations surrounding demographic decline very rarely touch on the effects of abortion and euthanasia, even though they both negatively impact population growth. In Canada, assisted dying is the fourth leading cause of death. In 2025, reports pegged Quebec as the world leader in euthanasia rates, with 'assisted dying' accounting for 7.9% of all deaths. Notably, euthanasia in Canada is not limited to those who are terminally ill. People have accessed assisted death for homelessness, mental illness, and non-life-threatening disability.

Abortion is also widespread in Canada, yet in 2025, the Canadian government pledged millions in funding to researchers with the goal of expanding abortion access. Both euthanasia and abortion are a result of a pervasive culture of death — when someone is discriminated against as unwanted, ill, burdensome, or unproductive, all too often the answer has become to kill that person.

The Bottom Line:

Any society that legalizes the killing of a certain portion of its members should be unsurprised to find that it is failing to thrive.