Saskatchewan’s population grew by another 17,396 people in 2014 to an all-time high of 1,132,640, according to new figures released by Statistics Canada.
Premier Brad Wall said the continued growth shows the strength of the province and its economy.
“2014 was the eighth straight year that our population has grown by more than one and a half per cent – the strongest period of population growth since the early days of our province,” Wall said. “It’s a big change from a decade ago when so many young people were leaving and our population was declining.”
Saskatchewan’s 2014 growth rate of 1.56 per cent was the second-highest in Canada, behind only Alberta. Saskatchewan, Alberta and BC were the only provinces with positive net inter-provincial migration in 2014, as every other province lost more people to other provinces than they gained.
Saskatchewan’s 2014 population growth consisted of net international migration of 11,106, natural increase (births minus deaths) of 5,793 and net interprovincial migration of 497.
Among the other provinces, Saskatchewan gained the most people from Ontario (1,651), Manitoba (639) and Quebec (282).
Wall said the government’s budget is designed to sustain growth by keeping Saskatchewan’s economy strong.
“A growing Saskatchewan is a strong Saskatchewan and we want to keep that going,” Wall said. “We never want to go back to the way it was when our population was declining.”
