According to data released last month by StatsCan, the Waterloo, Ontario, region is the second fastest growing metropolitan area, surpassed only by Peterborough.
The Cambridge-Kitchener-Waterloo area has grown by 2.6% over the past year, bringing its population to 567,740; Peterborough has grown by 3.1%. And while many in nearby Toronto are leaving, the StatsCan numbers show that the population there is still increasing through immigration.
In fact, the combined populations of Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver make up approximately one-third of the country’s total population, but the numbers suggest that new growth is taking place in the smaller areas that surround big cities. Ottawa-Gatineau, Windsor, and London rounded out the top five fastest growing areas, at 2.5%, 2.5%, and 2.4% respectively.