44,741.
That’s how many people live in the NWT as of the start of this year. It’s a step up from 2023, when the population was 44,515.
Despite a summer of wildfires and evacuations, the territory has seen a 0.5 per cent jump in population. The news comes from the NWT Bureau of Statistics, who released this information last week.
“The components of natural increase during this one-year period consisted of 504 births and 323 deaths, resulting in a net increase of 181 persons,” according to their report.
The spike in population is a change in course for the NWT. Although population growth has been based on migration patterns, that pattern has mostly been negative, according to the bureau.
The NWT isn’t alone in its growth either. Canada as a whole jumped in population by more than three per cent between Jan. 1, 2023 and Jan. 1, 2024. Alberta experienced the largest population increase of all, at 4.4 per cent.
Last year wasn’t an easy one for the NWT, with a total of 323 deaths, it was a new record. Adding to it is the typical decline in births happening in the territory. In the 2018, the number of births was 621. Last year it was 504.
Although there was a net loss of 565 interprovincial migrants last year, there was also a net gain of 610 international migrants, according to the Bureau of Statistics.
Statistics Canada reported that the country welcomed 107,972 immigrants in the third quarter of 2023. It is a record high in terms of population growth, fuelled by permant and temporary immigration.
It seems like another trend soon to change. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the government wants to rein in the number of temporary immigrants coming to Canada. He said the situation needs to be brought “under control.”
As for those 44,741 people in the NWT, about three-quarters of them are 15 years old or older. About half the population is employed as well.