Alberta Population Nears 5 Million, Remains Top Destination for Interprovincial Migration: StatCan

The Calgary skyline is seen on Sept. 15, 2017. The Canadian Press/Jeff McIntosh

Alberta’s population nearly hit five million in the first part of 2025, largely due to interprovincial migration and permanent immigration, according to Statistics Canada.

StatCan released population numbers for the first quarter of 2025 on June 18, indicating the population of larger provinces like Ontario and B.C. dropped during that time, while Alberta’s increased, continuing an ongoing trend.

Canada’s population overall grew by 20,107 in the first quarter, StatCan said, representing the smallest quarterly growth since the third quarter of 2020 during pandemic travel restrictions.

Meanwhile, Alberta’s population grew by 20,562, reaching a total population of 4,980,659, up from 4,842,523 in 2024. The province has seen steady growth over the past three years.

Of that growth, 7, 176 was from interprovincial migration, StatCan said, representing the province with the largest net gain from interprovincial migration. Most of the migration into Alberta came from B.C. and Ontario.

Figures show that 7,342 residents moved from Ontario to Alberta in the first quarter of 2025, while 3,768 residents moved from Alberta to Ontario, for a net gain of 3,574.

About 7,217 people moved into Alberta from B.C., while 5,334 moved from Alberta to B.C., for a total net gain of 1,883 for Alberta.

The reasons people are migrating to Alberta vary, according to a recent report from ATB Financial.

“People are coming to Alberta for different reasons than in the past. It’s not driven by the typical energy boom, but based on a wider range of opportunities and, in particular, relative housing affordability,” the report said.

International immigration accounted for an even larger share of Alberta’s population growth at the beginning of 2025, with the province gaining 11,630 residents from other countries. The province also saw a natural population increase of 3,118, which is more births than deaths.

However, Alberta also lost 1,362 temporary residents in the first quarter of this year.

It’s a trend that other provinces and territories also saw after new rules from Ottawa were put in place to curb immigration numbers.

Canada saw the biggest drop in immigration among those with a study permit, which dropped by 53,669. The decline was largely seen in Ontario, and B.C., which lost 30,160 and 11,742 respectively, StatCan said.

In total, Canada saw a drop of 61,111 non-permanent residents since January. As of April 1, Canada had 2,959,825 non-permanent residents, which amounts to 7.1 percent of the country’s total population, a drop from a peak 7.4 percent in October 2024, StatCan said.