Hon. Donna Dasko: Honourable senators, with the momentous events of recent months, some of us may have missed the very exciting first findings from the 2021 Canadian census. I hope to change this in my brief comments today and provide a few key take aways.

Released on February 9, this first statement from StatCan tells us about population changes in this country. The census paints a picture of robust growth and relentless urbanization.

Did you know that Canada led all G7 countries in population growth from 2016 to 2021? Although the pandemic halted growth in 2020, Canada’s population still grew at almost twice the pace of other G7 countries during that time frame.

Canada is now home to almost 37 million people, which is a 5.2% increase from 2016. Most of the increase occurred before the pandemic, and, in fact, 2019 was a record high year for population growth in this country. Immigration accounted for four fifths of the increased growth.

Among all provinces and territories, Yukon grew at the fastest pace nationally by 12.1%. Among the 10 provinces, Prince Edward Island had the highest growth at 8%, followed by British Columbia with 7.6%. Ontario also experienced above-average growth, with a 5.8% increase. Following Ontario were Nova Scotia and Manitoba, with 5% each, and Alberta with 4.8%. Quebec and New Brunswick each had growth of 4%, Saskatchewan’s growth was 3.1% and Nunavut had a growth of 2.5%. Newfoundland and Labrador and the Northwest Territories were the only places to experience a drop in population over the five-year period.

The second big population trend can be described as relentless urbanization. Urban areas overall grew at a rate of 6.6%, while rural areas had almost no growth at all.

Here are some fast facts: All 41 of Canada’s largest urban centres grew. Ottawa and Edmonton each exceeded the 1 million mark. The downtown areas of large cities are growing at a faster pace than ever. Notably, downtown Halifax, Montreal, Calgary and Toronto have grown significantly over this period. As well, the most distant suburbs of the three largest urban areas grew at a faster pace than the inner suburbs. In the Greater Toronto Area, we call that the 905 area. The 905 is famous for its swing voters, and now there are way more of them.

Colleagues, I hope you appreciate that I have mentioned all of Canada’s provinces and territories in my brief statement today.

Thank you.