Sask. population growing slowest among all provinces, StatsCan says

The growth of Saskatchewan's population is trailingthat ofevery other province, according to the latest yearly figures from Statistics Canada.

The province had a net population increase of 5,994 peoplefromApril 1, 2021, to April 1, 2022, according to figures released Wednesday.That represents a growth of 0.51 per cent year to year, the lowest among all provinces.

Newfoundland and Labrador (0.61 per cent), Manitoba (0.69 per cent)and Quebec (0.77 per cent) were the others below oneper cent growth.

Overall, Canada saw 1.31per cent growth, led by Prince Edward Island's net gain of 5,084 people, or 3.13 per cent.

International migration continued to driveSaskatchewan's growth.

There was a net gain of 3,755 international migrants in the province from Jan. 1, 2022, to March 31, 2022, according to StatsCan.

But the province lost 1,358 people to inter-provincial migration during the same period. Migration stats for the full year were not included in Wednesday's release.

Saskatchewan's population is estimated at 1,186,308. The population had dipped to 1,179,844 at the start of the third quarter in 2021.

Census figures released in February show Saskatchewan ranked ninthamong the 10 provinces in population growth from 2016 to 2021, at 3.1 per cent.

Only Newfoundland and Labrador fared worse during that period, losing 1.8 per cent.

Over the past five years, the Saskatoon metropolitan area's population grew 7.6 per cent to 317,480, making it the 17th biggest city in Canada,according to Statistics Canada.

Regina's population was up5.3 per cent over the last five years, growingto 249,217.