List of Canadian provinces and territories by historical population
This is a list of Canadian historical population by province and territory, drawn from the Canadian census of population data and pre-Confederation censuses of Newfoundland and Labrador. Since 1871, Canada has conducted regular national census counts. The data for 1851 to 1976 is drawn primarily from Historical Statistics of Canada, 2nd edition.[1] Data for 1981 through 2021 are from the respective year's respective census. Newfoundland and Labrador pre-Confederation data is from the 1945 Census of Newfoundland and Labrador, volume 1.[2] Data for 1841 and some 1851 data drawn from the 1931 Canadian census.[3] With the exception of Nunavut prior to 1996, the population figures largely reflect modern provincial boundaries; prior to 1996, the population of modern Nunavut is reported with Northwest Territories. Although the census has worked to count First Nations populations since 1871, the it is likely Indigenous Canadians are undercounted by the census.[4] Shaded blocks indicate periods before the province or territory joined the Canadian Confederation. Instances where the reported figure came from a different year's population count (primarily pre-1861 and for Newfoundland) are noted. Total Canadian population row includes the population of Newfoundland and Labrador.
1700 to 1825
Estimates from The Canada Year Book (1867) based on various provincial census records.[5]
Name | 1700 | 1725 | 1750 | 1775 | 1800 | 1825 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
14,000 | 29,000 | 54,500 | 96,000 | 225,000 | 450,000 |
![]() |
10,000 | 75,000 | ||||
![]() |
500 | 5,000 | 10,000 | 16,000 | 10,000 | 45,759 |
![]() |
1,300 | 5,000 | 14,000 | 20,000 | 57,000 | 150,000 |
![]() |
300 | 2,500 | 10,000 | 20,000 | 28,600 | |
![]() |
8,000 | 50,000 | 158,027 | |||
Total | 15,800 | 39,300 | 81,000 | 150,000 | 382,000 | 907,386 |
1841 to 1931
Name | Confederated[lower-alpha 4] | 1841 | 1851 | 1861 | 1871[lower-alpha 5] | 1881 | 1891 | 1901 | 1911 | 1921 | 1931 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
1905 | 25,277[lower-alpha 6] | 73,022 | 374,295 | 588,454 | 731,605 | |||||
![]() |
1871 | 62,100 | 55,000 | 51,524 | 36,247 | 49,459 | 98,173 | 178,657 | 392,480 | 524,582 | 694,263 |
![]() |
1870 | 4,704[lower-alpha 7] | 5,391[lower-alpha 8] | โ | 25,228 | 62,260 | 152,506 | 255,211 | 461,394 | 610,118 | 700,139 |
![]() |
1867 | 156,162[lower-alpha 9] | 193,800 | 252,047 | 285,594 | 321,233 | 321,263 | 331,120 | 351,889 | 387,876 | 408,219 |
![]() |
1949 | 96,296[lower-alpha 11] | 101,600 | 124,288[lower-alpha 12] | 146,536[lower-alpha 13] | 197,335[lower-alpha 14] | 202,040[lower-alpha 15] | 220,984[lower-alpha 16] | 242,619[lower-alpha 17] | 263,033[lower-alpha 18] | 289,588[lower-alpha 19] |
![]() |
1870 | 5,700 | 6,691 | 48,000 | 56,446 | 62,540 | 20,129 | 6,507 | 8,143 | 9,316 | |
![]() |
1867 | 202,575[lower-alpha 20] | 276,854 | 330,857 | 387,800 | 440,572 | 450,396 | 459,574 | 492,338 | 523,837 | 512,846 |
![]() |
1999 | ||||||||||
![]() |
1867 | 466,831[lower-alpha 22] | 952,004[lower-alpha 23] | 1,396,091[lower-alpha 23] | 1,620,851 | 1,926,922 | 2,114,321 | 2,182,947 | 2,527,292 | 2,933,662 | 3,431,683 |
![]() |
1873 | 47,042 | 62,678[lower-alpha 24] | 80,857 | 94,021 | 108,891 | 109,078 | 103,259 | 93,728 | 88,615 | 88,038 |
![]() |
1867 | 716,670[lower-alpha 25] | 890,261[lower-alpha 26] | 1,111,566[lower-alpha 26] | 1,191,516 | 1,359,027 | 1,488,535 | 1,648,898 | 2,005,776 | 2,360,510 | 2,874,662 |
![]() |
1905 | 11,150[lower-alpha 6] | 91,279 | 492,432 | 757,510 | 921,785 | |||||
![]() |
1898 | 27,219 | 8,512 | 4,157 | 4,230 | ||||||
![]() |
1,752,380 | 2,543,288 | 3,353,921 | 3,835,793 | 4,522,145 | 5,035,279 | 5,592,299 | 7,449,262 | 8,787,949 | 10,666,374 | |
1941 to 1991
Name | 1941 | 1951 | 1956 | 1961 | 1966 | 1971 | 1976 | 1981 | 1986 | 1991 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
796,169 | 939,501 | 1,123,116 | 1,331,944 | 1,463,203 | 1,627,874 | 1,838,037 | 2,213,650 | 2,365,825 | 2,545,553 |
![]() |
817,861 | 1,165,210 | 1,398,464 | 1,629,082 | 1,873,674 | 2,184,621 | 2,466,608 | 2,713,615 | 2,883,367 | 3,282,061 |
![]() |
729,744 | 776,541 | 850,040 | 921,686 | 963,066 | 988,247 | 1,021,506 | 1,013,705 | 1,063,016 | 1,091,942 |
![]() |
457,401 | 515,697 | 554,616 | 597,936 | 616,788 | 634,557 | 677,250 | 689,375 | 709,442 | 723,900 |
![]() |
316,294[lower-alpha 28] | 361,416 | 415,074 | 457,853 | 493,396 | 522,104 | 557,725 | 563,750 | 568,349 | 568,474 |
![]() |
12,028 | 16,004 | 19,313 | 22,998 | 28,738 | 34,807 | 42,609 | 45,540 | 52,238 | 57,649 |
![]() |
577,962 | 642,584 | 694,717 | 737,007 | 756,039 | 788,960 | 828,571 | 839,805 | 873,176 | 899,942 |
![]() |
||||||||||
![]() |
3,787,655 | 4,597,542 | 5,404,933 | 6,236,092 | 6,960,870 | 7,703,106 | 8,264,465 | 8,534,265 | 9,101,694 | 10,084,885 |
![]() |
95,047 | 98,429 | 99,285 | 104,629 | 108,535 | 111,641 | 118,229 | 121,225 | 126,646 | 129,765 |
![]() |
3,331,882 | 4,055,681 | 4,628,378 | 5,259,211 | 5,780,845 | 6,027,764 | 6,234,445 | 6,369,065 | 6,532,461 | 6,895,963 |
![]() |
895,992 | 831,728 | 880,665 | 925,181 | 955,344 | 926,242 | 921,323 | 956,440 | 1,009,613 | 988,928 |
![]() |
4,914 | 9,096 | 12,190 | 14,628 | 14,382 | 18,388 | 21,836 | 23,075 | 23,504 | 27,797 |
![]() |
11,828,474[lower-alpha 27] | 14,009,429 | 16,080,791 | 18,238,247 | 20,014,880 | 21,568,311 | 22,992,604 | 24,083,510 | 25,309,331 | 27,296,859 |
1996 to 2021
Name | 1996 | 2001 | 2006 | 2011 | 2016 | 2021 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
2,696,826 | 2,974,807 | 3,290,350 | 3,645,257 | 4,067,175 | 4,262,635 |
![]() |
3,724,500 | 3,907,738 | 4,113,487 | 4,400,057 | 4,648,055 | 5,000,879 |
![]() |
1,113,898 | 1,119,583 | 1,148,401 | 1,208,268 | 1,278,365 | 1,342,153 |
![]() |
738,133 | 729,498 | 729,997 | 751,171 | 747,101 | 775,610 |
![]() |
551,792 | 512,930 | 505,469 | 514,536 | 519,716 | 510,550 |
![]() |
39,672 | 37,360 | 41,464 | 41,462 | 41,786 | 41,070 |
![]() |
909,282 | 908,007 | 913,462 | 921,727 | 923,598 | 969,383 |
![]() |
24,730 | 26,745 | 29,474 | 31,906 | 35,944 | 36,858 |
![]() |
10,753,573 | 11,410,046 | 12,160,282 | 12,851,821 | 13,448,494 | 14,223,942 |
![]() |
134,557 | 135,294 | 135,851 | 140,204 | 142,907 | 154,331 |
![]() |
7,138,795 | 7,237,479 | 7,546,131 | 7,903,001 | 8,164,361 | 8,501,833 |
![]() |
990,237 | 978,933 | 968,157 | 1,033,381 | 1,098,352 | 1,132,505 |
![]() |
30,766 | 28,674 | 30,372 | 33,897 | 35,874 | 40,232 |
![]() |
28,846,761 | 30,007,094 | 31,612,897 | 33,476,688 | 35,151,728 | 36,991,981 |
Notes
- Split from Nova Scotia in 1784.
- Includes population of the Colony of Cape Breton (1784โ1820)
- Split from Nova Scotia in 1769.
- Dates for when the province or territory entered the Canadian Confederation.
- First national census, as required in the British North America Act of 1867.
- Extracted from Northwest Territories enumeration.
- Assiniboine and Red River, 1840
- Assiniboine and Red River, 1849
- 1840
- Originally Newfoundland Colony and from 1907โ1949 Dominion of Newfoundland
- 1845
- 1857: 122,638 in Newfoundland; 1,650 in Labrador
- 1869: 144,286 in Newfoundland; 2,150 in Labrador
- 1884: 193,124 in Newfoundland; 4,211 in Labrador
- 197,934 in Newfoundland; 4,106 in Labrador
- 217,037 in Newfoundland; 3,947 in Labrador
- 238,670 in Newfoundland; 2,949 in Labrador
- 259,259 in Newfoundland; 3,774 in Labrador
- 1935: 284,872 in Newfoundland; 4,716 in Labrador
- 1838
- Included in count for Northwest Territories
- Upper Canada
- Canada West
- 1849
- Lower Canada
- Canada East
- Includes population of Newfoundland and Labrador prior to confederation
- 1945: 316,294 in Newfoundland; 5,525 in Labrador
References
- Basavarajappa, K.G.; Ram, Bali (1983). "Section A: Population and Migration" (PDF). Historical Statistics of Canada (2nd ed.). Ottawa, Ontario: Statistics Canada. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
- Census of Newfoundland and Labrador, 1945. Vol. 1. Ottawa, Ontario: Dominion Bureau of Statistics. 1945. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
- Seventh Census of Canada, 1931 (PDF). Vol. 1. Ottawa, Canada: Dominion Bureau of Statistics. 1931. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
- Guimond, Eric; Kerr, Don; Beaujot, Roderic (2003). Charting the Growth of Canada's Aboriginal Populations: Problems, Options and Implications (Technical report). PSC Discussion Papers. Vol. 17. 5. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
- "Canada Year Book (CYB) Historical Collection: Progress of Population, 1700 to 1825". www65.statcan.gc.ca. Statistics Canada. March 31, 2008. Retrieved May 10, 2022.