Toronto's Population Declined So Much Recently That It Actually Set A Record

According to Statistics Canada, Toronto's population is declining thanks to city-dwellers leaving in droves. 

The StatCan report, which measures the population changes in the country's urban areas, says more Torontonians are moving out to other regions than moving into the city.

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From July 1, 2019, to July 1, 2020, [Toronto] posted a record loss of people as a result of these population exchanges. Statistics Canada

Toronto recorded a loss of 50,375 people in July 2020 compared to the previous year, which StatCan says is a "record-high." Montreal also posted a record loss of 24,880 people.

This net loss was driven by people moving to surrounding cities. Oshawa, for example, experienced the fastest growth at 2.1%.

The number of residents in Kitchener–Cambridge–Waterloo also grew rapidly at 2.0%.

The fastest-growing municipalities in Canada within this time period were Milton and Brampton, where populations went up by 4% and 3.4%, respectively. 

"The desire to live outside the largest urban centres was also reflected in the rapidly increasing housing costs in neighbouring real estate markets, a trend that has continued in spite of the pandemic," writes StatCan.

However, despite there being less international migration due to the travel restrictions of the pandemic, it accounted for over 90% of the growth in Canada's metropolitan areas from 2019 to 2020.