Canada’s population growth is outpacing expectations, but housing, infrastructure, and public services haven’t kept up—especially in fast-growing mid-sized cities, rural, and Northern communities. To build inclusive, resilient communities, growth must be matched with accessible housing, strong public services, and coordinated infrastructure investment.
With fertility rates continuing to decline, Canada needs long-term supports—affordable child care, paid leave, secure housing—to enable family formation. Recent gains in parental leave uptake and maternal employment show progress, but sustained investment in flexible work and inclusive employment is essential.
Canada reached its 2024 goal by investing 6% of GDP in infrastructure, but future spending must target high-growth regions. Housing affordability remains a pressing challenge, requiring more than supply increases—solutions must include non-market housing, stronger tenant protections, and locally tailored strategies.
A coordinated national plan linking population, housing, infrastructure, labour, and immigration policies will ensure all regions can adapt to growth and share in its benefits.
Well-being among children and youth is key to their future development, health, success, and quality of life. It is critical to Canada’s ability to prepare young people for full participation in society and the economy and contributes to Canada’s attractiveness to those seeking to raise families in a safe and supportive environment.
Canada ranked 25th out of 36 countries in youth well-being in 2022.
Top 10 OECD countries on the PISA Sense of Belonging Index.
Canada ranked 25th out of 36 countries in the most recent comparative assessment of youth well-being, placing it near the bottom of the list despite its high-income status. This poor performance reflects concerning trends in mental health, emotional distress, and self-reported life satisfaction among Canadian youth. Without coordinated action to improve access to mental health supports, reduce social isolation, and address underlying stressors, Canada risks a deepening youth well-being crisis.
Poverty among children and youth contributes to negative impacts over the long-term. It can be a barrier to children’s development and limit access to opportunity in the future. The rate of child and youth poverty in Canada reflects the quality of living standards for families.
10.7% of Canadian children under 18 were low-income in 2023.
Continued decrease in child poverty in Canada, toward the federal government goal to eliminate it.
The number of children considered low-income increased to 10.7% in 2023 compared to 9.9% in 2022. This represents the continuation of an upward trend in childhood poverty since 2020, during which pandemic related financial supports contributed to lower poverty levels.
The employment rate of mothers is a key enabler of Canada’s social and economic progress, as women’s contributions are crucial to the country’s long-term success. Women’s labour force participation contributes to increased productivity and reduced earnings inequality.
In 2023, the employment rate for mothers aged 20 to 49 with children under 18 reached 79.8%, For mothers with children aged five and under, the rate rose to 73.0%.
Top 10 OECD countries on maternal employment rate.
Threshold: 10th in the OECD had a maternal employment rate of 77.1%.
The maternal employment rate increased from 78.1% in 2022 to 79.8% in 2023, while employment among mothers with children under six rose from 71.0% to 73.0%.
Paid parental leave can help to support maternal and infant well-being. It supports new parents, particularly mothers, to temporarily exit employment with job security and income support. Robust leave options can contribute to supporting Canadians’ choices on family size and labour force attachment.
Among new parents with insurable employment in 2023, 91.3% received maternity or parental benefits. In Quebec, 95% of new parents with coverage under QPIP received maternity or parental benefits in 2023.
Increasing trend in uptake of parental leave for new parents outside of Québec.
In Quebec, 95% of new parents with coverage under Quebec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP) received maternity or parental benefits in 2023.
Uptake of parental leave continued to rise in 2023, with 91.3% of new parents with insurable employment reporting benefit receipt. This represents a modest increase from 92.4% in 2022 and 89.3% in 2021.
Robust systems for quality and accessible early childhood education and care can improve children’s well-being and learning. They can help parents, particularly mothers, enter or re-enter the labour force. They can also contribute to supporting Canadians’ choices on family size and newcomer families’ transition to Canada.
In 2023, there were regulated full- or part-time child care centre spaces for 31% of children aged 0 to 5 across Canada and 56.1% of children in that age range received some form of child care outside of immediate family.
Increased regulated spaces for children aged 0 to 5.
There has been a modest, yet encouraging increase in both the number of spaces available in child care centres and the number of children in child care outside of immediate family. While the overall availability of child care remains low, the trend toward increasing child care availability which started in 2021 represents an important reversal after more than a decade of steady decline which began in 2008.
As Canada pursues a path of population growth its population will become more diverse, and this diversity must be mirrored in leadership. Diversity contributes to firms’ productivity and innovation, especially at the leadership level.
In 2023, among corporate boards of directors required to disclose diversity information:
Indigenous individuals held 0.7% of board seats.
Meet the federal government’s “50-30 challenge” objective of representation of 50% of women and 30% of other under-represented groups on boards.
In 2023, there was an increase of 3% in the number of women on boards, as well as slight increases in the number of individuals with disabilities and Indigenous individuals. Meanwhile, the number of racialized individuals on boards has decreased by 1% since 2022.
Access to broadband across Canada, including in rural and remote parts of the country, is critical for Canada to grow in a way that builds shared prosperity. This will enable both Canadians and newcomers to access education, critical services, and to fully participate in Canada’s economy and society from anywhere in the country.
The coverage of 50/10 unlimited broadband in rural areas was 78.2% in 2023.
Access to 50/10 unlimited broadband for Canada’s rural residents that is comparable to overall access in Canada toward a federal government goal of 100% nationwide access by 2030.
While there have been significant improvements in rural broadband coverage (an increase of 10.8% from 2022 to 2023), more than 1 in 5 rural Canadian households still do not have coverage.
Access to affordable housing that is suitable and adequate is needed to support the health and well-being of a growing Canadian population. Strong housing quality and security are correlated with positive health outcomes and support long-term social cohesion, helping Canada to grow well in the years ahead.
The 2023 overall incidence of Canadian households in core housing need was 11.2% while in urban centres it was 12%.
Meet Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation target of affordable housing for everyone by 2030.
The proportion of Canadian households in core housing need increased from 10.1% in 2021 to 11.2% in 2023. Canadian cities are increasingly unaffordable places for low income households to live.
A bigger, bolder Canada requires investments in infrastructure such as affordable housing, climate adaptation infrastructure, broadband, roads, bridges, water and wastewater, and public transit. Without planned and strategic investments in infrastructure, population growth will put a strain on Canada’s economy, quality of life and well-being.
Canadian investment in infrastructure represented 6% of GDP in 2024.
Increase the rate of infrastructure investment to 5% of GDP in order to close the infrastructure gap.
In 2024 infrastructure investment represented 6% of Canada’s GDP, which indicates that the target has been reached and represents a significant increase from 4% the previous year.
Increased life expectancy contributes to a larger population size and is closely tied to higher living standards, quality of life and health outcomes.
Canada’s life expectancy at birth was 81.7 years in 2023.
Top 10 of OECD countries for life expectancy.
Threshold: 10th in the OECD in 2023 had a life expectancy of 82 years.
Life expectancy increased to 81.7 years in 2023 from 81.3 years in 2022. This represents the first year that life expectancy has increased since the Covid-19 pandemic but remains 0.5 years lower than pre-pandemic life expectancy. In 2023, the 10th ranked country (Netherlands) had a life expectancy of 82.
Births are a key input into population growth. Robust policies to support children and families could have a moderate impact on the fertility rate by supporting Canadians’ choices on family size, while fostering significant social and economic benefits.
Canada had a fertility rate of 1.26 children per woman in 2023.
Fertility rate increasing toward the current OECD average of 1.58 (2021) over the next decade.
Canada’s birthrate continued to decline to 1.26 children per woman in 2023 compared to 1.33 in 2022. This is the lowest birthrate in Canada in over a century of data.
Population growth fuels Canada’s prosperity. It adds workers to our economy, supports innovation and entrepreneurship, and helps sustain public services as our society ages.Without steady growth, we risk labour shortages, slower economic progress, and greater pressure on future generations. In past Scorecards, we tracked the 10-year average annual growth rate to highlight long-term trends. Beginning in 2024, we are reporting the annual growth rate to provide a clearer picture of year-to-year changes. This figure will still be assessed against our long-term target of 1.25–1.30% average growth per year over the next decade.
Canada has seen population growth of 1.34% over the last 10 years and 1.59% over the last 5 years. In 2024 Canada’s population grew by 1.8%.
Population growth at between 1.25% and 1.30% of population per year over the next decade.
Canada’s population grew by 1.8% in 2024, a significant decline from the population growth rate of 3.1% in 2023 and 2.5% in 2022. This reflects the impact of the Government of Canada’s reductions in the 2025-2027 Immigration Levels Plan, which were introduced in October 2024. While the 1.8% figure exceeds the Scorecard target, Canada’s current projections for immigration levels put the country on a path towards net population decline.
