Canada data questions answered
The 15 questions people search most about Canada's official figures, each answered from the body that publishes them, with a link to check the latest number yourself.
What is the inflation rate in Canada?
Canada's Consumer Price Index rose 3.0% in the 12 months to August 2026, the same rate as in July, according to Statistics Canada's Consumer Price Index, August 2026 release in The Daily on 14 September 2026. Excluding gasoline, prices rose 2.4%. Shelter costs were up 1.5% and transportation 7.5%.
The headline rate compares the not seasonally adjusted index with the same month a year earlier. The Bank of Canada aims to keep inflation at the 2% midpoint of a 1% to 3% target range, and Statistics Canada publishes the Bank's preferred core measures alongside the CPI. Statistics Canada lists the next CPI release date in its release schedule.
What is the population of Canada?
Canada's population was estimated at 41,798,407 on July 1, 2026, up 0.2% on the previous quarter, according to Statistics Canada's population estimates for the second quarter of 2026, published on 23 September 2026. The estimate of non-permanent residents was 2,779,774, down 0.7% over the quarter.
Quarterly estimates are based on 2021 Census counts, adjusted for undercoverage, plus births, deaths and migration since then. Statistics Canada calls the latest quarter preliminary and revises estimates each September. The agency notes that these estimates are not the 2026 Census counts, which it will release on February 10, 2027.
What is the unemployment rate in Canada?
Canada's unemployment rate was 6.5% in September 2026, up 0.1 percentage points from August, according to Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey, September 2026, released on 9 October 2026. Employment fell by 68,000 (-0.3%), the second monthly decline in a row, and the employment rate dropped to 60.6%.
The Labour Force Survey is a monthly household survey, and its figures are seasonally adjusted. Small monthly changes can fall within sampling error, so the release flags which changes are significant.
What is Canada's GDP growth?
Canada's real gross domestic product grew 0.8% in the second quarter of 2026, led by exports, household spending and business investment, according to Statistics Canada's GDP, income and expenditure, second quarter 2026, published on 28 August 2026. First-quarter growth was revised up from 0.0% to 0.1%. Exports rose 3.6%, the largest increase since early 2023.
Statistics Canada reports quarterly growth as a simple change on the previous quarter, unlike the United States, which reports annualized rates; multiplying roughly by four gives an annualized figure. The household saving rate was 3.7% in the quarter. Monthly GDP by industry is published separately, about two months after the reference month.
What is the average salary in Canada?
Average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees in Canada were $1,347.14 in July 2026, up 3.2% on a year earlier, according to Statistics Canada's Payroll employment, earnings and hours, July 2026, released on 24 September 2026. Ontario's average was $1,391.19 and Alberta's $1,399.61. The Labour Force Survey put average hourly wages at $37.64 in September 2026, up 2.3%.
Both are means across all employees, including part-time workers, so they sit below typical full-time pay and are pulled up by high earners. Weekly earnings times 52 gives about $70,000 a year, before tax. Statistics Canada notes that changes can reflect shifts in the mix of jobs and hours as well as pay rises.
What is the Bank of Canada interest rate?
The Bank of Canada's policy interest rate, the target for the overnight rate, is 2.25%, according to the Bank's key interest rate page. The Bank held it at that level at its decision on September 2, 2026, and every decision this year; the last change was a 0.25 point cut on October 29, 2025.
The overnight rate is the rate at which major banks lend to each other for one day, and it feeds into prime rates and variable mortgage rates. The Bank sets it eight times a year on fixed dates; its schedule lists the next decision for October 28, 2026, along with a Monetary Policy Report.
What is the Canadian dollar exchange rate?
One US dollar was worth 1.4222 Canadian dollars on October 13, 2026, according to the Bank of Canada's daily exchange rates. That is equivalent to about 70 US cents per Canadian dollar.
Bank of Canada rates are indicative daily averages of price quotes from financial institutions, published once each business day by 16:30 ET; banks and exchange services add their own margins. The same series can be downloaded through the Bank's Valet API, for example the USD/CAD series FXUSDCAD.
What is Canada's national debt?
The federal government's net debt was $1,051.2 billion in the second quarter of 2026, up $56.4 billion (5.7%) from a year earlier, according to Statistics Canada's Government finance statistics, second quarter 2026, published on 25 September 2026. For all levels of government combined, net debt was $448.6 billion, or $1,482.6 billion excluding the accumulated surplus of the Canada and Quebec pension plans and other social security funds.
Net debt is liabilities minus financial assets, measured on an international (GFS) basis. The federal government's own Public Accounts use a different measure, the accumulated deficit, so figures from the Department of Finance will not match these exactly.
What is the minimum wage in Canada?
Canada has no single minimum wage: each province and territory sets its own, and a separate federal rate applies in federally regulated sectors such as banking, telecoms and air transport. In Ontario, the largest province, the general minimum wage rose to $17.95 an hour on October 1, 2026, from $17.60, according to the Government of Ontario. The student rate is $16.90.
Ontario's rate is adjusted each October 1 in line with the Ontario Consumer Price Index. Most other provinces also index their rates to inflation, on different dates. The federal minimum wage is published by Employment and Social Development Canada's Labour Program on Canada.ca and is also adjusted each year.
What is the average rent in Canada?
The average asking rent for a two-bedroom apartment across Canada's census metropolitan areas was $2,150 in the first quarter of 2026, down 0.9% from a year earlier, according to Statistics Canada's Quarterly rent statistics, published on 9 June 2026. Asking rents averaged $2,660 in Toronto, $3,100 in Vancouver and $1,900 in Montréal. The CPI rent index rose 2.8% in the year to August 2026.
The quarterly figures are experimental estimates of advertised rents on rental platforms, so they reflect what new tenants are asked to pay. The CPI rent index covers rents paid by all tenants, including those in existing leases. CMHC's annual Rental Market Survey is another official source.
What is the crime rate in Canada?
Canada's police-reported Crime Severity Index was 75.0 in 2025, down 4.9% from 2024, and the police-reported crime rate was 5,585 incidents per 100,000 people, down 2.4%, according to Statistics Canada's Police-reported crime statistics in Canada, 2025, published on 22 July 2026. Police reported 672 homicides, 125 fewer than in 2024.
The Crime Severity Index weights each offence by the sentences courts typically hand down, so serious crimes count for more than minor ones; the crime rate counts all incidents equally. Both cover only crimes reported to and recorded by police, so they are affected by reporting behaviour. The General Social Survey on victimization measures unreported crime.
What is the birth rate in Canada?
372,521 babies were born in Canada in 2025, 1.6% more than in 2024, according to Statistics Canada's Births, 2025 release of 23 September 2026. Boys made up 51.3% of births. The fertility rate was 1.25 children per woman in 2024, according to the World Bank, which compiles national vital statistics.
Statistics Canada's figures come from the Canadian Vital Statistics Birth Database, and data for 2021 to 2024 were revised in this release. The total fertility rate is the average number of children a woman would have at current age-specific rates; about 2.1 is the level usually cited for a population to replace itself without migration.
How many immigrants come to Canada each year?
Canada admitted an estimated 99,148 immigrants (new permanent residents) in the second quarter of 2026, 4.2% fewer than a year earlier, according to Statistics Canada's population estimates for the second quarter of 2026. The number of non-permanent residents, such as temporary workers, students and asylum claimants, was estimated at 2,779,774 on July 1, 2026, down 0.7% in the quarter.
Immigrants here means people granted permanent residence, so someone already living in Canada on a temporary permit who becomes a permanent resident is counted as an immigrant, which is why these flows differ from border arrivals.
When will 2026 Census results be released?
Statistics Canada says the first results of the 2026 Census, the population counts, will be released on February 10, 2027, according to its population estimates release of 23 September 2026. The census was held in 2026 and follows the 2021 Census, which remains the base for current population estimates.
Census counts and population estimates are different products. Estimates are adjusted for people the census missed, so they are usually higher than the census count for the same date. After the population counts, Statistics Canada releases census topics such as age, language, housing and income in stages through the following year.
How many MPs are in the House of Commons?
The House of Commons has 343 seats, one for each federal electoral district, according to Elections Canada, which lists the 343 districts set by the provincial boundary commissions. The House of Commons members directory lists the sitting MPs with their riding, party and province.
The number of seats is recalculated after each decennial census under rules in the Constitution. The count of sitting MPs can be lower than 343 when seats are vacant between a resignation and a by-election.
Source guides
- Statistics Canada
- Bank of Canada
- Parliament of Canada (House of Commons, Senate and LEGISinfo)
- Justice Laws Website and Access to Information
Questions were chosen from the searches people make most about this country's figures, and each answer was written from the official page it links to, read on 14 October 2026. These answers give no verdict on any claim. To report an error, send a correction request.