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Nova Scotia\u2019s population dropped by nearly 1,400 people in the third quarter of 2025, marking the first decline since 2020 and the largest decline in a decade.<\/p>\n
Statistics Canada released the figures Wednesday for every province and territory. Nova Scotia was part of a national trend, and the agency noted population decreases were mainly a result of changes to federal immigration policy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The decline marks a notable shift following a population boom that kicked off during the COVID-19 pandemic when people from other provinces flocked to Nova Scotia and international immigration was high.<\/p>\n
Growth started to slow in 2024 and decelerated even more in the first part of 2025. This summer, the numbers shifted down.<\/p>\n
A breakdown of the figures from the provincial government shows permanent immigration is still net positive. What\u2019s drawing the population down is a decrease in non-permanent residents. That number has been declining for a full year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the first occurrence of four consecutive quarters of non-permanent resident decline since the data series started in 1971,\u201d says a report prepared by Finance Department officials based on the Statistics Canada numbers.<\/p>\n
The whole country is losing non-permanent residents, according to Statistics Canada, and it attributes the decrease to the drop in study and work permit holders.<\/p>\n
Saint Mary’s University economics professor Ather Akbari says the population boom presented challenges \u2014 including a shortage of housing and backlogs in health care \u2014 but a declining population brings challenges of its own.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe spend a lot on maintaining our roads and highways and public parks, and their costs are not going to go down with lower population,\u201d he said in an interview.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat would mean that their per capita cost will increase and the only way will be to increase our taxes to fund them or borrow money to fund them.\u201d<\/p>\n
In other terms, the tax base is shrinking and the only way for the province to deal with that will be to cut services or raise taxes.<\/p>\n