Census 2021: How population levels in the Greater Toronto Area changed in 5 years

As Ontario saw higher-than-average population growth compared to other jurisdictions in Canada’s latest census, most of the municipalities in the Greater Toronto Area fell below the provincial increase.

Mississauga was one of the few larger urban centres to actually see a slight population decline between 2016 and 2021 (down by 0.5 per cent).

However, East Gwillimbury, the town at the northern end of Highway 404, saw one of the most notable population percentage increases in all of Canada — 44.4 per cent between 2016 and 2021 (up to 34,637 people from 23,991).

Karl Chastko, an analyst with Statistics Canada, told CityNews the Greater Toronto Area census metropolitan area grew by about 4.6 per cent and the broader region is now home to 6.2 million people (more than one in six Canadians live in the GTA).

Ontario’s population grew 5.8 per cent during the same time period, faster than the national population at 5.2 per cent.

RELATED: A snapshot of Ontario’s population and dwelling data

Chastko said a large majority of the population growth in Canada — approximately 85 per cent — came from immigration, calling it a “net positive” for the country.

He went on to say that COVID-19 had an impact on the 2021 census.

“Population growth has slowed somewhat compared to the previous census cycle largely due to the pandemic and declines in international migration related to that,” Chastko said.

“Despite the pandemic, downtown Toronto’s population still grew by 16 per cent, so that was seventh-fastest in Canada. So did the pandemic slow population growth within the city? Yes. Was that slowdown equal across the area? Not necessarily.”

Downtown Toronto remains the most populous downtown in all of Canada with approximately 275,000 residents and is the second-highest densely populated downtown in the country (around 16,000 people per square kilometre, and for comparison the borough of Manhattan has around 22,000 people per square kilometre).

Here’s a breakdown of the data for all of Ontario.

2021 population: 14,223,942
2016 population: 13,448,494
Population percentage change: 5.8
Total private dwellings: 5,929,250
Private dwellings occupied by usual residents (those who have people permanently living in the dwelling): 5,491,201
Population density per square kilometre: 15.9
Land area in square kilometres: 892,411.76

Here’s the data for Toronto and several surrounding municipalities.

Toronto
2021 population: 2,794,356
2016 population: 2,731,571
Population percentage change: 2.3
Total private dwellings: 1,253,238
Private dwellings occupied by usual residents: 5,491,201
Population density per square kilometre: 4,427.8
Land area in square kilometres: 631.10

Brampton
2021 population: 656,480
2016 population: 593,638
Population percentage change: 10.6
Total private dwellings: 189,086
Private dwellings occupied by usual residents: 182,472
Population density per square kilometre: 2,469
Land area in square kilometres: 265.89

Mississauga
2021 population: 717,961
2016 population: 721,599
Population percentage change: -0.5
Total private dwellings: 254,089
Private dwellings occupied by usual residents: 244,575
Population density per square kilometre: 2,452.5
Land area in square kilometres: 292.74

Halton Region (Oakville, Burlington, Milton and Halton Hills)
2021 population: 596,637
2016 population: 548,435
Population percentage change: 8.8
Total private dwellings: 214,322
Private dwellings occupied by usual residents: 208,601
Population density per square kilometre: 617.8
Land area in square kilometres: 965.71

Hamilton
2021 population: 569,353
2016 population: 536,917
Population percentage change: Six
Total private dwellings: 233,564
Private dwellings occupied by usual residents: 222,807
Population density per square kilometre: 509.1
Land area in square kilometres: 1,118.31

York Region (Vaughan, Markham, Richmond Hill, Whitchurch-Stouffville, Aurora, Newmarket, King, East Gwillimbury, Georgina, Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation)
2021 population: 1,173,334
2016 population: 1,109,909
Population percentage change: 5.7
Total private dwellings: 405,863
Private dwellings occupied by usual residents: 391,034
Population density per square kilometre: 667.3
Land area in square kilometres: 1,758.27

Durham Region (Pickering, Ajax, Whitby, Oshawa, Clarington, Scugog, Mississaugas of Scugog Island, Uxbridge, Brock,
2021 population: 696,992
2016 population: 645,862
Population percentage change: 7.9
Total private dwellings: 250,559
Private dwellings occupied by usual residents: 243,048
Population density per square kilometre: 276.5
Land area in square kilometres: 2,521.11

With files from Kailie Annetts and The Canadian Press