PEI Population Report Quarterly

Population Report, First Quarter 2023

DIAGRAM 1: PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND POPULATION, QUARTERLY, 2018 - 2023

On June 28, 2023 Statistics Canada published its provincial population estimates for the first quarter of 2023. The data shows Prince Edward Island’s population was estimated to be 176,113 as of April 1, 2023. This represents a yearly increase of 7,755 persons or a 4.6 per cent annual growth rate. This is the largest year-over-year population increase for PEI on record (since 1951). This is also the highest year-over-year growth rate among provinces and territories, ahead of Alberta and Nova Scotia, which were 4.5 per cent and 4.0 per cent respectively. This compares to a rate of 3.1 per cent for Canada as a whole.

The quarterly estimates since January 1, 2021 and growth rates for Canada and Prince Edward Island can be seen in Table 1.

TABLE 1: NATIONAL AND PROVINCIAL POPULATION & GROWTH RATES, QUARTERLY

	Canada		Prince Edward Island
Quarter	Population	Growth rate (%)	Population	Growth rate (%)
Jan. 1, 2021	38,043,450	0.1	161,662	0.1
Apr. 1, 2021	38,124,373	0.2	162,866	0.7
Jul. 1, 2021	38,226,498	0.3	164,758	1.2
Oct. 1, 2021	38,426,473	0.5	166,435	1.0
Jan. 1, 2022	38,516,138	0.2	166,858	0.3
Apr. 1, 2022	38,644,920	0.3	168,358	0.9
Jul. 1, 2022	38,929,902	0.7	170,688	1.4
Oct. 1, 2022	39,292,355	0.9	172,707	1.2
Jan. 1, 2023	39,566,248	0.7	173,954	0.7
Apr. 1, 2023	39,858,480	0.7	176,113	1.2

Northwest Territories was the only jurisdiction to see a year-over-year population decline (April 1, 2023 compared to April 1, 2022). Population estimates for April 1, 2022 and 2023 for all provinces and territories are shown in Table 2 below. The population growth rates and level change for the twelve-month period ending March 31, 2023 are also included.

TABLE 2: POPULATION OF PROVINCES & TERRITORIES, APRIL 1, 2022, 2023 & ANNUAL GROWTH RATES

	Apr 1, 2022	Apr 1, 2023	Growth	Level
CAN	38,644,920	39,858,480	3.1%	1,213,560
NL	523,043	533,710	2.0%	10,667
PEI	168,358	176,113	4.6%	7,755
NS	1,007,360	1,047,232	4.0%	39,872
NB	802,862	831,618	3.6%	28,756
QC	8,650,692	8,831,257	2.1%	180,565
ON	14,996,014	15,500,632	3.4%	504,618
MB	1,401,967	1,444,190	3.0%	42,223
SK	1,188,338	1,221,439	2.8%	33,101
AB	4,502,858	4,703,772	4.5%	200,914
BC	5,273,809	5,437,722	3.1%	163,913
YK	43,518	44,412	2.1%	894
NWT	45,698	45,668	-0.1%	-30
NU	40,403	40,715	0.8%	312

Components of Growth

The total increase in PEI’s population during the first quarter of 2023 (January 1, 2023 to March 31, 2023) was 2,159 people, the second highest quarterly increase on record. (The third quarter of 2022 saw PEI’s population increase by 2,330.)

Natural Increase

There were 424 births and 375 deaths on Prince Edward Island from January 1, 2023 to March 31, 2023, resulting in natural growth (births minus deaths) of +49.

International Migration

During first quarter 2023, 1,274 international immigrants came to the province, the most on current record for one quarter. This is up 95.4 per cent on a year-over-year basis as compared to the first quarter of 2022. At a rate of 7.3 per thousand , the province had the second highest quarterly immigration rate in the country, behind Yukon at 7.7 per thousand. The immigration rate for Canada was 3.7 per thousand.

Net international migration was estimated to be 1,320 persons during the first quarter of 2023. This consisted of the aforementioned 1,274 international immigrants plus 66 non-permanent residents (net), and 13 returning Canadians entering the province, while 22 international emigrants and 11 temporarily abroad Canadians left the province. Net international migration for PEI over the last 12-month period (April 2022 to March 2023) was 5,671. This compares to 2,959 over the previous 12-month period.

Net non-permanent residents (NPRs) was +66 for the first quarter of 2023, following +437 for the fourth quarter of 2022. NPRs include foreign workers, foreign students, the humanitarian population and other temporary residents. The humanitarian population includes refugee claimants and temporary residents who are allowed to remain in Canada on humanitarian grounds and are not categorized as either foreign workers or foreign students.

Inter-provincial Migration

A total of 1,879 inter-provincial migrants came to PEI during the first quarter of 2023, while 1,089 people left the province for other areas of Canada, for a net interprovincial gain of 790. This compares to a net gain of 808 persons over the same period in 2022. As shown in Table 3, the primary source of PEI’s inter-provincial in-migrants during this period was from Ontario, followed by Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The main destinations of out-migrants from Prince Edward Island were Ontario, Alberta, and Nova Scotia. 37.0 per cent of all interprovincial migrants from other provinces were destined for Alberta.

TABLE 3: ORIGIN & DESTINATION OF INTER-PROVINCIAL MIGRANTS, JANUARY 1, 2023 TO MARCH 31, 2023

	DESTINATION
ORIGIN	N.L.	P.E.I.	N.S.	N.B.	Que.	Ont.	Man.	Sask.	Alta.	B.C.	Y.T.	N.W.T.	Nvt.
N.L.	0	36	128	339	115	724	65	73	809	127	15	46	15
P.E.I.	30	0	145	94	35	485	0	5	234	61	0	0	0
N.S.	245	286	0	676	145	1,316	93	68	896	398	8	68	66
N.B.	91	198	662	0	432	1,069	83	110	647	264	0	0	12
Que.	55	79	360	603	0	3,675	105	59	914	727	6	6	81
Ont.	1,122	973	3,843	2,823	4,056	0	1,661	1,075	11,564	5,299	155	266	231
Man.	49	26	135	88	258	1,706	0	476	1,945	1,585	5	0	34
Sask.	15	33	121	112	108	1,314	402	0	3,251	1,501	37	31	10
Alta.	510	108	633	415	558	3,871	683	1,630	0	6,506	70	199	62
B.C.	111	125	805	323	622	3,708	469	980	10,006	0	57	148	5
Y.T.	16	0	21	5	6	79	5	32	254	63	0	34	20
N.W.T.	38	0	43	20	30	128	13	13	462	93	59	0	22
Nvt.	20	15	59	50	48	261	41	28	49	23	32	74	0

	N.L.	P.E.I.	N.S.	N.B.	Que.	Ont.	Man.	Sask.	Alta.	B.C.	Y.T.	N.W.T.	Nvt.
IN	2,302	1,879	6,955	5,548	6,413	18,336	3,620	4,549	31,031	16,647	444	872	558
OUT	2,492	1,089	4,265	3,568	6,670	33,068	6,307	6,935	15,245	17,359	535	921	700
NET	-190	790	2,690	1,980	-257	-14,732	-2,687	-2,386	15,786	-712	-91	-49	-142

Prince Edward Island quarterly components of growth from October 1, 2020 to April 1, 2023 can be seen in table 4.

TABLE 4: PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND QUARTERLY POPULATION AND COMPONENTS OF GROWTH OCTOBER 1 2020 – APRIL 1 2023

Quarter	Population	(+) Births	(-) Deaths	(+) Immigrants	(+) Other International*	(+) Interprovincial In-Migration	(-) Interprovincial Out-Migration
Oct 1, 2020	161,455	327	316	259	67	480	610
Jan 1, 2021	161,662	371	341	366	335	1,196	723
Apr 1, 2021	162,866	375	366	328	608	1,948	1,001
Jul 1, 2021	164,758	366	290	1,068	120	1,396	983
Oct 1, 2021	166,435	352	364	851	-700	983	699
Jan 1, 2022	166,858	388	380	652	32	1,525	717
Apr 1, 2022	168,358	393	409	865	726	2,366	1,611
Jul 1, 2022	170,688	390	408	837	1,198	1,073	1,071
Oct 1, 2022	172,707	375	386	312	413	1,323	790
Jan 1, 2023	173,954	424	375	1,274	46	1,879	1,089
Apr 1, 2023	176,113

Related downloads for this release:

PEI Population Report Quarterly PDF (179KB)

Notes:

These are preliminary data that will be revised over the coming year.

These estimates are based on 2016 Census of Population counts, adjusted for census net undercoverage and incompletely enumerated Indian reserves. To these counts, the population growth estimates for the period from May 10, 2016, to the date of the estimate are added. They are not to be confused with the 2021 Census of Population counts released on February 9, 2022. Population estimates based on the 2021 Census results will be disseminated in September 2023, when census coverage study results will become available.

Immigration rates are calculated by the PEI Statistics Bureau based on Statistics Canada population estimates.

NPR estimates are based on the number of NPRs, not on the net. The number of people in IRCC’s administrative system is estimated on a specific date in each period of observation. First, the end-of-period number of NPR is estimated, and then the start-of-period number of NPR is subtracted from that estimate. That yields the net number of NPR.

Source: Statistics Canada

Table 17-10-0009-01, Estimates of population, Canada, provinces and territories, quarterly (persons)

Table 17-10-0040-01, International migration components, Canada, provinces and territories, quarterly (persons)

Table 17-10-0020-01, Interprovincial migrants, Canada, provinces and territories, quarterly (persons)

Table 17-10-0045-01, Estimates of interprovincial migrants by province or territory of origin and destination, quarterly (persons)

Table 17-10-0059-01, Estimates of the components of natural increase, Canada, provinces and territories, quarterly (number)

Prepared by PEI Statistics Bureau

Published date:

June 28, 2023

General Inquiries

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Phone: (902) 368-4040
Fax: (902) 368-6575

DeptFinance@gov.pe.ca