Canada’s urban areas experienced their strongest population growth in at least two decades, rebounding from a weak expansion during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Over the year ending July 1, 2022, the country’s census metropolitan areas (CMAs) grew 2.1 per cent or by 574,000 people, according to Statistics Canada estimates published on Wednesday. That was the strongest pace of growth in figures that go back to the early 2000s.
It was a comeback of sorts for urban regions, which had grown just 0.5 per cent the previous year, lagging the increase in rural areas. The pandemic and accompanying border restrictions led to a dramatic decline in immigration, while others decamped to smaller communities.
This is nothing to be happy about.
