PEI Population Report Quarterly

Population Report, First Quarter 2019

DIAGRAM 1: PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND POPULATION, QUARTERLY, 2014 - 2019

On June 19, 2019 Statistics Canada published its provincial population estimates for the first quarter of 2019. The data shows Prince Edward Island’s population is estimated to be 155,318 as of April 1, 2019. This represents a yearly increase of 3,309 persons or a 2.2 per cent annual growth rate. This is the highest year over year growth rate among provinces and territories and compares to a rate of 1.4 per cent for Canada as a whole.

The quarterly estimates since January 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 (April 1, 2019 compared to April 1, 2018). Population estimates for April 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 March 31, 2019 are also included.

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

Components of Growth

Natural Increase

There were 345 births and 336 deaths on Prince Edward Island from January 1, 2019 to March 31, 2019, resulting in natural growth (births minus deaths) of 9.

International Migration

International immigration increased by 24.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2019 compared to the fourth quarter of 2018 and up 11.2 per cent compared to the same period in 2018. During the first quarter, 544 international immigrants came to the province, as compared to 437 the previous quarter. At a rate of 3.5 per thousand, the province had the highest quarterly immigration rate in the country. The immigration rate for Canada was 1.8 per thousand.

Net international migration was estimated to be 530 persons during the first quarter of 2019. This consisted of the 544 international immigrants, 5 returning Canadians, and 16 non-permanent residents (net) entering the province, while 25 international emigrants and 10 temporarily abroad Canadians left the province. The number of net international immigrants coming to PEI over the last 12 month period (April 2018 to March 2019) was 3,148. This compares to 2,991 over the previous 12 month period.

Net non-permanent residents (NPRs)  was 16 for first quarter 2019, following -306 for the fourth quarter of 2018. 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 895 inter-provincial migrants came to PEI in the first quarter of 2019, while 864 people left the province for other areas of Canada, for a net inter-provincial gain of 31 persons. This compares to a net loss of 126 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 Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The main destinations of out-migrants from Prince Edward Island were to Ontario, Nova Scotia, and British Columbia. PEI, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia all saw positive net inter-provincial migration over the first quarter of 2019. 31.5 per cent of all inter-provincial migrants from other provinces were destined for Alberta.

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

Prince Edward Island quarterly components of growth from October 1, 2016 to April 1, 2019 can be seen in table 4.

TABLE 4: PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND QUARTERLY POPULATION AND COMPONENTS OF GROWTH OCTOBER 1 2016 – APRIL 1 2019

DIAGRAM 2: PEI COMPONENTS OF GROWTH, JANUARY 1, 2019 – MARCH 31, 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