The population boom recorded in Nova Scotia since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic appears to have come to an end.
Statistics Canada’s latest numbers show that as of Oct. 1, there were 1,091,857 people in the province, a decline of 1,388 from July 1, 2025. That tiny 0.13 per cent slide marked the first decline since the same period in 2020, and the first substantial drop since March 2015.
In February 2022, Statistics Canada released five-year census data showing that between 2016 and 2021, Nova Scotia had largely succeeded in reversing a decades-long decline in population, thanks in part to a steady influx of Canadians from other provinces.
For the first time since the 1981-86 census, more people had moved to the Maritimes from other parts of Canada than had moved away. And by December 2021, Nova Scotia’s population had reached a historic milestone, topping one million souls for the first time.
The federal numbers show that during the past five years, Nova Scotia’s upward population trend has held a steady pace, fuelling economic growth but also putting pressure on the province’s health-care system, housing supply and transportation infrastructure.
Get breaking National news
For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.
Meanwhile, successive provincial governments have drawn heavily from revenues that have steadily risen from $12.4 billion in fiscal 2020-21 to $18.2 billion in 2024-25, when taxes made up 51 per cent of all government revenue.
But on Thursday, Finance Minister John Lohr confirmed projected revenue for 2025-26 was expected to drop by $1.6 billion, to $16.6 billion, as he released the province’s latest financial update.
When asked about impact of the population slump on the public purse, Lohr said the government had to focus on growing the economy to turn things around.
“We know that as the economy grows, that will draw in workers from other parts of Canada,” he said, adding that budget cutbacks are coming. “That’s pretty key for us, to do everything we can do as a province to grow our own economy.”
Meanwhile, Statistics Canada said Nova Scotia’s population dip was part of a broader trend. Preliminary estimates indicate that Canada’s population decreased by 76,068 people or 0.2 per cent between July 1 and Oct. 1. The agency said the national decline was largely due to a drop in non-permanent residents caused by increased government restrictions on granting study and work permits.
In Nova Scotia, the number of non-permanent residents leaving the province between July 1 and Oct. 1 was 7,815 — far higher than the number entering the province at 4,701.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
