Description:
Statistics Canada has released the first data from the 2006 Census, covering population and dwelling counts. The report states that between 2001 and 2006, Canada's population increased 5.4%, the first time since 1991 that the census-to-census growth rate has accelerated. This acceleration during the past five years was due to higher levels of immigration. Canada had a faster rate of growth than any other member of the G8 group of industrialized nations between 2001 and 2006. The United States was in second place with a population growth of 5.0% during the same period. Net international migration fueled two-thirds of Canada 's population growth. In contrast, 60% of the growth in the United States population was due to natural increase, that is, the number of births exceeding the number of deaths. The American fertility rate was among the highest for a developed country.