Over the past year, Nunavut grew by nearly 1,000 people, StatCan says

As 2019 gets underway, Nunavut’s population estimate continues to close in on the 40,000 mark, Statistics Canada reported late last month.

In a population estimate released on Dec. 20, the agency reported that as of Sept. 30, the territory’s population had hit 38,650.

That’s an increase of 0.7 per cent from July 1, 2018, and nearly 1,000 more than the population number estimated for the end of 2017: 37,773.

And as of Jan. 4, Nunavut’s population had risen even more, to 38,854.

That’s according to the StatCan population clock, which gives real-time estimates for Canada as a whole and for the 13 territories and provinces, with information on births, deaths and migration.

As for Canada’s population, the country added 183,715 people between July 1 and Oct. 1 in 2018, one of the most rapid increases in recent history.

Rounded off, Canada’s population therefore stood at 37.2 million people as of Oct. 1, 2018.

“This was the largest increase in number since the beginning of the period covered by the current demographic accounting system in July 1971,” StatCan said.

A “natural increase,” which means the difference between the number of births and the number of deaths, accounts for only about one-third of the country’s population increase, the agency said.

The rest of the increase is accounted for by the admission of new immigrants, plus increases in the numbers of non-permanent residents such as work- and study-permit holders.

StatCan will release its next estimates, for the fourth quarter of 2018, this March 31, the agency said.