Quebec’s population growth slowed in 2015 as more Quebecers died, fewer babies were born and fewer immigrants settled in the province, but Quebec is expecting to reverse the trend in 2016, thanks to the arrival of Syrian refugees.
As of Jan 1, 2016, Quebec’s population was 8,287,843, an increase of 50,010 people compared to the previous year, the Institute de la statistique du Québec said in a report published on Wednesday.
That means the growth rate was 6.1 per 1,000 populations, the lowest increase in 10 years.
The annual report — Le bilan démographique du Québec — provide a portrait of the province’s population:
• Quebec’s growth rate — 6.1 per 1,000 — is lower than the Canadian average (9.4) and that of every province but New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, Alberta (16.7) and Ontario (10.1) grew the most.
• Quebec’s proportion of Canada’s population continues to drop. As of July 1, it was 22.9 percent; that’s five percentage points lower than it was in 1971. The proportion of Canadians living in Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario grew during this period.
Births
• 86,800 babies were born in Quebec in 2015, one-per-cent less than the previous year. That’s the lowest number of births since 2007.
• The fertility rate was 1.6 children per woman in Quebec, compared with 1.62 the previous year. It’s the sixth consecutive drop.
• For 30 per cent of Quebec newborns, at least one parent was born outside Canada.
Deaths
• 64,400 Quebecers died in 2015, a two-per-cent increase compared with 2014. The rise was attributed to the aging population and to a more deadly flu season during the winter of 2014-15.
• Life expectancy remained stable. On average, a baby born this year in Quebec can expect to live 82.2 years.
• More than 700 of the Quebecers who died in 2015 were over 100 years old.
Migration
• 48,982 immigrants arrived in Quebec in 2015, 2.6-per-cent less than the previous year. The decrease is in part because some Syrian refugees expected in 2015 only arrived this year.
• Quebec welcomed 18 per cent of the immigrants admitted to Canada. Ontario took in the highest proportion — 38 per cent.
• 6,600 Quebecers emigrated to other countries in 2015.
• 14,700 Quebecers moved to other provinces, slightly more than the 14,500 who did so the previous year.
• Quebec posted a net loss of 8,700 people to Ontario. Alberta was the second-biggest inter-provincial draw, though its struggling economy made it less alluring than in the past. In 2015, Quebec had a net loss of 2,400 people to Alberta, about half the number registered in the two previous years.
