Immigration, new births make up for people leaving Saskatchewan

More people are choosing to leave Saskatchewan for other provinces, but the population in the Land of Living Skies has still reached an all-time high thanks to new births and migration from outside Canada.

The province reported Thursday that during the first four months of 2018, net international migration accounted for 2,731 new people coming to Saskatchewan. New births outstripped deaths, adding another 1,283 people.

But even as those factors helped drive growth, 2,526 more people already in Saskatchewan chose to leave as compared to people arriving from other provinces.

All told, Saskatchewan was left with a net population increase of 1,488 people. There are now 1,171,240 people calling the province home.

“Saskatchewan’s population has now grown in 48 consecutive quarters,” Trade and Export Development Minister Jeremy Harrison said in a news release.

Harrison noted this was the longest period of sustained growth since 1971, when quarterly population records first started being published.