Top 100 Population Centres in Canada: How the Population Has Changed

Canada’s population growth slowed markedly across cities and regions over the past year, according to new subprovincial estimates from Statistics Canada for 2025.

Credit: Zulfugar Karimov

As of July 1, 2025, the combined population of Canada’s 41 census metropolitan areas (CMAs) reached 31,169,100.

Growth in these large urban centres slowed to 1.0% between July 2024 and July 2025, down from 3.5% the year before. The main driver behind the slowdown was a decline in the number of non-permanent residents, a trend that became evident nationally in late 2024.

Smaller centres and rural areas followed a similar pattern. Census agglomerations grew by 0.9%, while areas outside CMAs and CAs grew by 0.7%, both well below their growth rates a year earlier.

Canada’s three largest CMAs saw the sharpest shifts. Toronto’s population was nearly unchanged compared to 2024, declining by 992 people, after adding more than 269,000 residents the previous year. Losses in non-permanent residents and internal migration offset gains from births and permanent immigration. Montréal grew by 0.5%, while Vancouver increased by 0.2%, both affected by declines in non-permanent resident counts.

Not all cities slowed evenly. Edmonton led all CMAs with 3.0% growth, followed by Moncton and Calgary at 2.9%, driven largely by permanent immigration and interprovincial migration.

Overall urbanization held steady. As of July 1, 2025, 74.8% of Canadians lived in a CMA, marking the first year since at least 2001/2002 that the urbanization rate did not increase year over year.

Top 100 CMAs and CAs – Population Estimates July 1, 2025

Statscan Definition: Census metropolitan areas (CMAs) and census agglomerations (CAs) are large, densely populated regions made up of neighbouring municipalities that are closely connected through economic and social activity.

A CMA must have a total population of at least 100,000, with 50,000 or more residents living in the core, based on adjusted data from the previous Census of Population Program. A CA, by comparison, is defined by a core population of at least 10,000, also determined using data from the previous census.

Year	2021	2025
Canada	38,239,864	41,651,653
Toronto (CMA), ON	6,472,951	7,108,874
Montréal (CMA), Quebec	4,330,143	4,597,837
Vancouver (CMA), BC	2,771,430	3,088,036
Calgary (CMA), AB	1,540,242	1,836,012
Ottawa – Gatineau (CMA), ON/QC	1,540,340	1,700,014
Edmonton (CMA), AB	1,472,402	1,692,385
Winnipeg (CMA), MB	860,237	951,758
Québec (CMA), QC	844,774	903,607
Hamilton (CMA), ON	817,777	871,143
Kitchener – Cambridge – Waterloo (CMA), ON	602,303	701,568
London (CMA), ON	567,539	633,002
Halifax (CMA), NS	482,144	544,834
St. Catharines – Niagara (CMA), ON	450,926	503,670
Oshawa (CMA), ON	433,529	493,441
Windsor (CMA), ON	439,473	488,738
Victoria (CMA), BC	414,596	445,090
Saskatoon (CMA), SK	328,256	378,475
Regina (CMA), SK	257,368	291,187
Kelowna (CMA), BC	232,150	254,605
Barrie (CMA), ON	222,065	252,446
Sherbrooke (CMA), QC	229,294	243,911
St. John’s (CMA), NL	220,052	243,478
Abbotsford – Mission (CMA), BC	204,670	223,828
Moncton (CMA), NB	161,376	196,143
Greater Sudbury (CMA), ON	177,415	194,278
Kingston (CMA), ON	179,707	193,466
Guelph (CMA), ON	172,876	183,134
Brantford (CMA), ON	156,714	176,307
Trois-Rivières (CMA), QC	162,531	174,316
Saguenay (CMA), QC	162,376	170,192
Peterborough (CMA), ON	133,661	149,938
Saint John (CMA), NB	133,140	144,543
Lethbridge (CMA), AB	128,503	143,143
Thunder Bay (CMA), ON	128,040	133,765
Chilliwack (CMA), BC	118,634	130,283
Nanaimo (CMA), BC	120,213	129,750
Kamloops (CMA), BC	119,049	127,198
Fredericton (CMA), NB	111,017	125,303
Belleville – Quinte West (CMA), ON	115,493	124,978
Red Deer (CMA), AB	104,429	115,273
Chatham-Kent (CA), ON	108,243	112,977
Cape Breton (CA), NS	100,754	111,889
Drummondville (CMA), QC	102,356	109,151
Sarnia (CA), ON	101,251	108,986
Prince George (CA), BC	93,542	100,127
Charlottetown (CA), PEI	83,104	96,516
Granby (CA), QC	91,440	95,867
Sault Ste. Marie (CA), ON	80,202	88,307
Kawartha Lakes (CA), ON	82,147	85,223
North Bay (CA), ON	74,521	84,834
Wood Buffalo (CA), AB	76,888	83,376
Medicine Hat (CA), AB	78,780	82,880
Norfolk (CA), ON	70,300	75,773
Vernon (CA), BC	69,482	73,500
Grande Prairie (CA), AB	66,628	72,120
Courtenay (CA), BC	65,519	70,323
Cornwall (CA), ON	63,680	68,503
Saint-Hyacinthe (CA), QC	60,306	63,565
Brandon (CA), MB	55,877	62,723
Rimouski (CA), QC	54,209	56,959
Joliette (CA), QC	53,023	56,044
Victoriaville (CA), QC	53,099	55,053
Woodstock (CA), ON	48,777	53,801
Shawinigan (CA), QC	49,892	51,734
Truro (CA), NS	48,077	51,166
Duncan (CA), BC	49,241	51,122
Penticton (CA), BC	48,924	49,807
Prince Albert (CA), SK	47,084	48,655
Salaberry-de-Valleyfield (CA), QC	43,177	46,892
Timmins (CA), ON	42,763	45,983
Campbell River (CA), BC	42,231	43,999
Sorel-Tracy (CA), QC	42,124	43,478
Rouyn-Noranda (CA), QC	42,565	43,281
Lloydminster (CA), AB/SK	37,779	39,806
Whitehorse (CA), Yukon	34,233	39,584
Winkler (CA), MB	33,640	37,719
Orillia (CA), ON	34,732	37,477
Moose Jaw (CA), SK	35,791	37,434
New Glasgow (CA), NS	35,345	36,677
Saint-Georges (CA), QC	34,970	36,067
Centre Wellington (CA), ON	32,336	35,736
Stratford (CA), ON	34,522	35,702
Owen Sound (CA), ON	33,887	35,534
Val-d’Or (CA), QC	34,234	34,862
Brockville (CA), ON	32,768	33,946
Bathurst (CA), NB	31,876	33,467
Okotoks (CA), AB	31,362	32,992
Parksville (CA), BC	31,767	32,525
Corner Brook (CA), NL	30,827	31,880
Rivière-du-Loup (CA), QC	30,134	30,925
Fort St. John (CA), BC	30,216	30,862
Alma (CA), QC	30,418	30,682
Miramichi (CA), NB	28,085	30,218
Midland (CA), ON	28,955	30,087
Squamish (CA), BC	25,538	29,752
Cranbrook (CA), BC	28,197	29,713
Thetford Mines (CA), QC	28,332	29,602
Kentville (CA), NS	27,776	29,559
Wasaga Beach (CA), ON	25,780	29,039
Sept-Îles (CA), QC	27,892	27,853
Port Alberni (CA), BC	26,726	27,672
Collingwood (CA), ON	25,714	27,266
Baie-Comeau (CA), QC	26,730	26,446
Essa (CA), ON	24,039	25,868
Williams Lake (CA), BC	24,532	25,061
Edmundston (CA), NB	22,514	24,655
Pembroke (CA), ON	24,701	24,465
Quesnel (CA), BC	24,000	24,222
Yellowknife (CA), NT	21,904	23,826
Terrace (CA), BC	20,496	21,934
Yorkton (CA), SK	20,385	21,562
Lloydminster (CA), AB part, AB	20,403	21,324
Salmon Arm (CA), BC	20,357	21,216
Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts (CA), QC	20,013	21,208
Cobourg (CA), ON	21,159	21,028
Summerside (CA), PEI	19,051	21,017
Petawawa (CA), ON	19,131	20,890
North Battleford (CA), SK	19,886	20,772
Tillsonburg (CA), ON	18,700	20,575
Swift Current (CA), SK	19,279	20,312
Dawson Creek (CA), BC	18,724	20,264
Nelson (CA), BC	19,877	20,182
Steinbach (CA), MB	18,282	20,081
Camrose (CA), AB	19,344	20,071
Powell River (CA), BC	18,381	18,966
Sylvan Lake (CA), AB	17,144	18,953
Amos (CA), QC	18,958	18,862
Matane (CA), QC	18,494	18,724
Port Hope (CA), ON	17,915	18,565
Lloydminster (CA), SK part, SK	17,376	18,482
Canmore (CA), AB	16,617	17,897
Cowansville (CA), QC	15,377	17,011
Brooks (CA), AB	15,420	16,698
Ladysmith (CA), BC	16,009	16,679
Strathmore (CA), AB	14,781	15,589
Campbellton (CA), NB/QC	15,206	15,554
High River (CA), AB	14,732	15,514
Kenora (CA), ON	15,599	15,370
Lachute (CA), QC	14,226	15,364
Dolbeau-Mistassini (CA), QC	15,295	15,213
Trail (CA), BC	15,114	15,149
Ingersoll (CA), ON	14,335	15,042
Grand Falls-Windsor (CA), NL	14,294	14,549
Gander (CA), NL	13,817	14,389
Prince Rupert (CA), BC	14,181	14,052
Sainte-Marie (CA), QC	13,199	13,933
Portage la Prairie (CA), MB	13,813	13,921
Lacombe (CA), AB	13,789	13,657
Estevan (CA), SK	13,163	13,266
Hawkesbury (CA), ON/QC	12,333	13,134
Weyburn (CA), SK	12,597	13,100
Thompson (CA), MB	13,459	13,065
Wetaskiwin (CA), AB	12,963	13,032
Campbellton (CA), NB part, NB	12,204	12,587
Elliot Lake (CA), ON	11,711	11,901
Hawkesbury (CA), ON part, ON	10,506	11,196
Campbellton (CA), QC part, QC	3,002	2,967
Geography	2021	2025
Hawkesbury (CA), QC part, QC	1,827	1,938