**UNSPLASH/Paul Martinez**
**The population grew by more than 250,000 people in the three months through June, according to Statistics Canada data.**

Canada’s population continued to expand at a near record pace in the second quarter, even as the federal government tries to slow the influx of foreign students and workers.

The country added 250,229 people in the three months through June, an increase of 0.6 per cent, Statistics Canada reported Wednesday. That’s slightly below the average quarterly pace of 290,000 since the second half of 2022. But outside the recent population surge, a three-month gain of a quarter million people is easily one of the biggest increases in the past seven decades.

As of July 1, Canada’s population was estimated at 41.3 million, 3 per cent more people than the previous year.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government is seeking to stem the flow of immigrants into Canada amid rising unemployment and a housing affordability crisis. Officials have pledged to reduce the proportion of temporary residents in Canada to 5 per cent of the total population by 2026, down from 6.2 per cent in 2023. However, non-permanent residents currently total 3 million, or 7.3 per cent of the population — a share that’s been rising, not falling.

There’s also speculation the government will reduce immigration targets for permanent-residents, currently at half a million per year.