# 41 million

By [Brandon Donnelly](https://paragraph.com/@brandondonnelly), 2024-03-28

affordable-housing, bloomberg, canada-population, canadian-population, g-7-nations, housing, housing-crisis, social-safety-net

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It seems like just yesterday that [I wrote](https://brandondonnelly.com/2023/06/15/canada-is-about-to-pass-40-million-people/) about Canada's population surpassing 40 million people. Because today, some 9 months later, [we're already over 41 million](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/71-607-x/71-607-x2018005-eng.htm).

Since 2000, we are the fastest growing country in the G-7:

![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/ef5a0909e9ca8c2db40fc674fa48b4e8.png)

This is, in many ways, a positive thing. But it's also a serious problem if, among other things, we don't build enough new housing ([source](https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2024-canada-services-benefits-data/)):

> _In 2013, Canada ranked 13th out of 170 countries in meeting the basic needs of citizens, according to data tracked by_ [_Social Progress Imperative._](https://www.socialprogress.org/2024-social-progress-index/) _By 2023, it had fallen to 39th, in large part because of a lack of affordable housing._

For more on this topic, [here is a recent article](https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2024-canada-services-benefits-data/) from Bloomberg talking broadly about Canada's declining social safety net.

_Chart: Bloomberg_

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*Originally published on [Brandon Donnelly](https://paragraph.com/@brandondonnelly/41-million)*