PEI Population Report Quarterly

Population Report, Third Quarter 2019

DIAGRAM 1: PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND POPULATION, QUARTERLY, 2015 - 2019

On December 19, 2019 Statistics Canada published its provincial population estimates for the third quarter of 2019. The data shows Prince Edward Island’s population is estimated to be 157,901 as of October 1, 2019. This represents a yearly increase of 2,816 persons or a 1.8 per cent annual growth rate. This is the highest year over year growth rate among provinces and territories, along with Ontario also at 1.8 percent. This compares to a rate of 1.5 per cent for Canada as a whole.

The quarterly estimates since July 1, 2017 and growth rates for Canada and Prince Edward Island can be seen in Table 1.

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

Newfoundland and Labrador was the only jurisdiction that saw year-over-year population decline (October 1, 2019 compared to October 1, 2018). Population estimates for October 1, 2018 and 2019 for all provinces and territories are shown in Table 2 below. The population growth rates for the twelve-month period ending September 30, 2019 are also included.

TABLE 2: POPULATION OF PROVINCES & TERRITORIES, OCTOBER 1, 2018, 2019 & ANNUAL GROWTH RATES

Components of Growth

Natural Increase

There were 365 births and 336 deaths on Prince Edward Island from July 1, 2019 to September 30, 2019, resulting in natural growth (births minus deaths) of 29.

International Migration

International immigration increased by 42.3 per cent in the third quarter of 2019 compared to the second quarter and up 24.8 per cent compared to the same period in 2018. During the third quarter, 855 international immigrants came to the province, as compared to 601 the previous quarter. At a rate of 5.4 per thousand , the province had the highest quarterly immigration rate in the country. The immigration rate for Canada was 2.8 per thousand.

Net international migration was estimated to be 1,559 persons during the third quarter of 2019. This consisted of the 855 international immigrants, 42 returning Canadians, and 721 non-permanent residents (net) entering the province, while 47 international emigrants and 12 temporarily abroad Canadians left the province. The number of net international immigrants coming to PEI over the last 12 month period (October 2018 to September 2019) was 3,238. This compares to 3,393 over the previous 12 month period.

Net non-permanent residents (NPRs)  was 721 for the third quarter of 2019, following 420 for the second quarter of 2019. 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 587 inter-provincial migrants came to PEI in the third quarter of 2019, while 1,221 people left the province for other areas of Canada, for a net interprovincial loss of 634 persons. This compares to a net loss of 76 persons over the same period in 2018. As shown in Table 3, the primary source of PEI’s inter-provincial in-migrants during this period was from Ontario, followed by Alberta and Nova Scotia. The main destinations of out-migrants from Prince Edward Island were to Ontario, British Columbia, and Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, and Yukon all saw positive net interprovincial migration over the third quarter of 2019. 37.5 per cent of all interprovincial migrants from other provinces were destined for Ontario.

TABLE 3: ORIGIN & DESTINATION OF INTER-PROVINCIAL MIGRANTS, JANUARY 1, 2019 TO MARCH 31, 2019

Prince Edward Island quarterly components of growth from April 1, 2017 to October 1, 2019 can be seen in table 4.

TABLE 4: PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND QUARTERLY POPULATION AND COMPONENTS OF GROWTH APRIL 1 2017 – OCTOBER 1 2019

DIAGRAM 2: PEI COMPONENTS OF GROWTH, JULY 1, 2019 – SEPTEMBER 30, 2019

 

Related downloads for this release:

PEI Population Report Quarterly PDF (179KB)

Notes: Current population estimates are now based on the 2016 Census.

 

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