Canada still had 2.78 million non-permanent residents as of July 1, according to newly revised Statistics Canada estimates showing far more temporary residents remained in the country than previously reported.

The new total represents 6.7 per cent of Canada's population and is only about 204,500 below the record 2.98 million non-permanent residents recorded in October 2024.

The revision is particularly striking in Quebec, where the estimated decline in non-permanent residents between January 2025 and January 2026 has been slashed from 51,400 people to just 12,800, according to La Presse. Roughly three-quarters of the previously reported decline disappeared under the revised estimates.

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Statistics Canada said the unusually large revisions were partly caused by newer Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada administrative data containing substantially more permit extensions than were available when preliminary estimates were calculated.

The agency has also incorporated Canada Border Services Agency entry and exit information and changed its methodology to better account for people legally remaining in Canada under “maintained status” while their applications are processed.

Those changes prompted Statistics Canada to revise its non-permanent resident estimates dating back to July 2021.

Despite the upward revisions, Statistics Canada says the non-permanent resident population is declining nationally, falling by 154,614 people between July 2025 and July 2026.