Largest Cities in Canada 2021 / 2022

There are 5 cities in Canada with a population of more than 1 million people (up from just 3 five years ago).

There are also 54 cities with a population of more than 100,000, and 100 cities with a population of more than 50,000 people. 

This article provides a roundup of the ten largest cities in Canada by population.

At the end of the article is a table listing the 100 largest cities in Canada.

Largest cities in Canada

# 1

Toronto

Population: 2,794,356

Toronto is the largest city in Canada by population and the largest city in the province of Ontario. 

Since the last census, in 2016, the number of people living in Toronto has grown by 2.3%.

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# 2

Montreal

Population: 1,762,949

Montreal is the second largest city in Canada, and the largest city in the province of Quebec.

Since the last census, in 2016, the number of people living in Montreal has grown by 2.9%.

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# 3

Calgary

Population: 1,306,784

Calgary is the third largest city in Canada, and the largest city in the province of Alberta.

Calgary’s population increased by 5.5% between 2016 and 2021.

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# 4

Ottawa

Population: 1,017,449

Ottawa may be Canada’s capital city, but it is only the fourth largest in the country and second largest in Ontario by population.

Ottawa is one of the fastest growing cities in Canada. Between 2016 and 2021 it grew by 8.9%.

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# 5

Edmonton

Population: 1,010,899

Edmonton is the second largest city in Alberta, and the fifth largest in Canada.

It its growing almost as quickly as Ottawa – population growth was 8.3% between 2016 and 2021.

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# 6

Winnipeg

Population: 749,607

Winnipeg is the sixth largest city in Canada, taking the position from Mississauga.

The capital of Manitoba grew by 6.3% from 2016 to 2021.

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# 7

Mississauga

Population: 717,961

Despite being a part of Greater Toronto, Mississauga is also the seventh largest city in Canada.

Mississauga’s population has declined slightly – by 0.5% – since the last census in 2021, and it has dropped from 5th to 6th in the list of Canada’s largest cities.

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# 8

Vancouver

Population: 662,248

Vancouver, the largest city in BC, is just the 8th largest city in Canada.

Known as one of the most lovable cities in Canada, Vancouver’s population is growing steadily – 4.9% since 2016.

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# 9

Brampton

Population: 656,480

Like Mississauga, Brampton is a part of Greater Toronto. This doesn’t stop it being the 9th largest city in Canada, and the fourth largest in Ontario.

Brampton is also the fastest city in the top 10 – an impressive 10.6% since 2016.

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# 10

Hamilton

Population: 569,353

Hamilton rounds out our top ten, and is also the 5th largest city in Ontario.

Hamilton has grown at a steady rate recently – its population increased by 6.0% between 2016 and 2021.

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Top 10 largest cities in Canada

The table below lists the ten largest cities in Canada in a different format, so that they can be copied and pasted.

After Toronto (see section above for details) the next largest Canadian cities are Montreal (1,704,694), Calgary (1,239,220), Ottawa (934,243) and Edmonton (932,546).

Brampton may only be the 9th largest city in Canada, but it is the fastest growing among the top 36 Canadian cities.

Kelowna, ranked 37th is the next largest city that is growing faster than Brampton in 2021, growing at a rate of 13.5% between the 2016 and 2021 censuses.

What is the smallest city in Canada?

The smallest city in Canada is Greenwood, in British Columbia.

The population of Greenwood is 702 (data from 2021 census).

At its height of its mining boom in 1901, Greenwood was home to 1,359 people, but this fell to just 171 in 1931, once the good times were over.

The number of people living in Greenwood today varies quite a bit from census to census, and has been bouncing between around around 600 and 900 since the 1950s.

100 largest cities in Canada

The table below is a full list of the 100 largest cities in Canada, sorted by population.

All data in this article is from the 2016 census, and will be updated in 2022 to reflect data from the 2021 census. Source: Statistics Canada.