Demographics of Saskatchewan

File:Canada Saskatchewan Density 2016 CB.svg

Population density of Saskatchewan, 2016

Saskatchewan is the middle province of Canada's three Prairie provinces. It has an area of 651,900 km² (251,700 mi²) and a population of 1,132,505 (Saskatchewanians) as of 2021. Saskatchewan's population is made of 50.3% women and 49.7% men. Most of its population lives in the Southern half of the province.

The most populous city is Saskatoon, with a population of 317,480 (2021) in the Census Metropolitan Area (CMA), followed by the province's capital, Regina, with a population of 249,217 (2021) in the CMA. The province's population makeup is also notable for German Canadians being the largest European ethnic group and for the second-largest proportion of people of indigenous descent of any of the provinces, after Manitoba.

Population history

Year	Population	Five-year % change	Ten-year % change	Rank among provinces
1901	91,279†	n/a	n/a	8
1911	492,432	n/a	439.5	3
1921	757,510	n/a	53.8	3
1931	921,785	n/a	21.7	3
1941	895,992	n/a	−2.8	3
1951	831,728	n/a	−7.2	5
1956	880,665	5.9	n/a	5
1961	925,181	5.1	11.2	5
1966	955,344	3.3	8.5	6
1971	926,242	−3.0	0.1	6
1976	921,325	−0.5	3.6	6
1981	968,313	5.1	4.5	6
1986	1,009,613	4.3	9.6	6
1991	988,928	−2.0	2.1	6
1996	976,615	−1.2	−3.3	6
2001	978,933	0.2	−1.0	6
2006	985,386	0.7	0.9	6
2011	1,053,960	7.0	7.6	6
2016	1,098,352	6.3	11.4	6
2021	1,132,505	3.5	7.5	6

† 1901 population for District of Saskatchewan and District of Athabasca, parts of the then-named North-West Territories.

Source: Statistics Canada.

Ethnic origins

Ethnic groups in Saskatchewan (1941–2021)

Ethnic group	2021		2001		1941Template:Rp
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
German	272,475		275,060		130,258
English	219,660		235,715		186,053
Scottish	175,590		172,300		108,919
Irish	145,415		139,205		95,852
Ukrainian	138,705		121,735		79,777
First Nations	129,225		102,285		13,384
French	108,505		109,800		50,530
Norwegian	70,215		60,510		38,213
Métis	56,060		40,110		9,160
Polish	55,600		51,445		27,902
Filipino	40,160		3,275		—	—
Russian	35,920		27,695		25,933
Swedish	31,960		29,900		20,961
Dutch	29,410		32,300		35,894
Hungarian	28,495		24,340		14,576
Indian	20,755		3,245		2
Chinese	19,965		9,275		2,545
Austrian	17,690		14,450		10,655
Welsh	17,605		13,935		6,950
Romanian	12,415		10,290		7,093
Italian	10,830		7,565		1,014
Danish	10,585		9,375		6,027
Total responses	1,103,200		963,150		895,992
Total population	1,132,505		978,933		895,992
Note: Totals greater than 100% due to multiple origin responses

Future projections

Panethnic origin projections in Saskatchewan (2031–2041)

Panethnic group	2031		2036		2041
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
EuropeanTemplate:Efn	768,000		751,000		733,000
Indigenous	246,000		263,000		279,000
South Asian	94,000		114,000		133,000
Southeast AsianTemplate:Efn	82,000		99,000		118,000
East AsianTemplate:Efn	45,000		51,000		56,000
African	45,000		54,000		64,000
Middle EasternTemplate:Efn	19,000		23,000		27,000
Latin American	9,000		11,000		13,000
Other/multiracialTemplate:Efn	10,000		12,000		14,000
Projected Saskatchewan population	1,317,000		1,379,000		1,436,000

Visible minorities and Indigenous peoples

File:Largest Panethnic Groups in Saskatchewan, 2021 Census.jpg

Largest panethnic groups in Saskatchewan by percentage of total population by census division, 2021 census

Visible minority and Indigenous population (Canada 2021 Census)
Population group		Population	%
EuropeanTemplate:Efn		755,950	68.5%
Visible minority group	South Asian	44,720	4.1%
	Chinese	18,010	1.6%
	Black	22,570	2.0%
	Filipino	43,755	4.0%
	Arab	5,575	0.5%
	Latin American	5,680	0.5%
	Southeast Asian	8,540	0.8%
	West Asian	2,830	0.3%
	Korean	1,850	0.2%
	Japanese	830	0.1%
	Visible minority, n.i.e.	1,275	0.1%
	Multiple visible minorities	3,725	0.3%
Total visible minority population		159,365	14.4%
Indigenous group	First Nations (North American Indian)	121,175	11.0%
	Métis	62,800	5.7%
	Inuk (Inuit)	460	0.0%
	Multiple Indigenous responses	2,030	0.2%
	Indigenous responses n.i.e.	1,425	0.1%
Total Indigenous population		187,885	17.0%
Total population		1,103,200	100.0%

Languages

Knowledge of languages

Knowledge of official languages of Canada in Saskatchewan (2016)
Language			Percent
English only			94.48%
French only			0.05%
English and French			4.74%
Neither English nor French			0.73%

The question on knowledge of languages allows for multiple responses. The following figures are from the 2021 Canadian Census and the 2016 Canadian Census, and lists languages that were selected by at least one per cent of respondents.

Knowledge of languages in Saskatchewan

Language	2021		2016
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
English	1,094,785		1,062,275	99.23%
French	52,065		51,325	4.79%
Tagalog	36,125		28,655	2.68%
CreeTemplate:Notetag	24,850		21,870	2.04%
Hindi	15,745		N/A	<1%
Punjabi	13,310		N/A	<1%
German	11,815		17,390	1.62%
Mandarin	11,590		N/A	<1%
Spanish	11,185		N/A	<1%
Ukrainian	10,795		13,090	1.22%
Urdu	10,540		N/A	<1%

Mother tongue

Template:Pie chart The 2006 census showed a population of 968,157. Of the 946,250 singular responses to the census question concerning mother tongue the languages most commonly reported were:

Mother tongue in Saskatchewan

Language	2006		2001		1931Template:Rp
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
English	811,275	85.7%	817,955	85.8%	516,342
German	28,555	3.0%	32,515	3.4%	138,499
Algonquian languages	26,525	2.8%	23,735	2.5%	—	—
Cree	24,255	2.6%	22,055	2.1%	—	—
Ojibway	1,745	0.2%	1,375	0.1%	—	—
Ukrainian	16,350	1.7%	19,650	2.1%	70,545
French	16,060	1.7%	17,775	1.9%	42,283
Chinese	7,475	0.8%	6,015	0.6%	2,500
Cantonese	1,720	0.2%	1,425	0.2%	—	—
Mandarin	715	0.1%	395	<0.1%	—	—
Athapaskan languages	7,145	0.8%	6,315	0.7%	—	—
Dene	7,135	0.8%	6,310	0.7%	—	—
Polish	2,510	0.4%	3,015	0.3%	18,742
Hungarian	2,190	0.2%	2,700	0.3%	11,853
Tagalog (Filipino/Pilipino)	2,170	0.2%	1,545	0.2%	—	—
Dutch	1,785	0.2%	1,930	0.20%	10,079
Scandinavian languages	1,690	0.2%	2,320	0.2%	50,634
Norwegian	830	0.1%	1,260	0.1%	27,996
Danish	420	<0.1%	430	0.1%	3,882
Swedish	355	<0.1%	525	0.1%	15,556
Arabic	1,525	0.12%	1,090	0.11%	571
Russian	1,400	0.2%	1,440	0.2%	17,085
Vietnamese	1,305	0.1%	1,390	0.2%	—	—
Serbo-Croatian languages	1,250	0.1%	1,235	0.1%	956
Croatian	450	0.1%	435	0.1%	—	—
Bosnian	335	<0.1%	N	N	—	—
Serbian	270	<0.1%	210	<0.1%	—	—
Serbo-Croatian	195	<0.1%	590	0.1%	—	—
Greek	1,060	0.1%	980	0.1%	370
Panjabi (Punjabi)	850	0.1%	540	0.1%	7
Persian	785	0.1%	415	<0.1%	—	—
Romanian	770	0.1%	775	0.1%	6,170
Italian	735	0.1%	895	0.1%	692
Korean	675	0.1%	425	<0.1%	—	—
Germanic languages n.i.e.	605	0.1%	375	<0.1%	8,619Template:Efn
Siouan languages (Dakota/Sioux)	410	<0.1%	345	<0.1%	—	—
African languages n.i.e.	405	<0.1%	130	0.01%	—	—
Portuguese	380	<0.1%	405	<0.1%	—	—
Finnish	365	<0.1%	435	<0.1%	1,861
Hindi	355	<0.1%	320	<0.1%	—	—
Lao	340	<0.1%	275	0.03%	—	—
Urdu	330	<0.1%	425	<0.1%	—	—
Bantu languages	325	<0.1%	170	<0.1%	—	—
Swahili	105	<0.1%	110	<0.1%	—	—
Czech	325	<0.1%	415	<0.1%	1,156
Berber	310	<0.1%	185	<0.1%	—	—
Japanese	290	<0.1%	185	<0.1%	1,070
Niger–Congo languages n.i.e.	285	<0.1%	100	<0.1%	—	—
Tigrigna	215	<0.1%	190	<0.1%	—	—
Gujarati	210	<0.1%	225	0.02%	—	—
Slovak	210	<0.1%	100	<0.1%	1,156
Somali	210	<0.1%	35	<0.1%	—	—
Bengali	190	<0.1%	70	<0.1%	—	—

Note: "n.i.e.": not included elsewhere

There were also 175 single-language responses for Non-verbal languages (Sign languages); 170 for Amharic; 155 for Turkish; 140 for Sinhala; 135 for Slavic languages n.i.e.; 130 for Slovenian; 120 for Pashto; 115 for Malay; 115 for Malayalam; 115 for Thai; 110 for Ilocano; 110 for Khmer; 100 for Celtic languages; and 100 for Sino-Tibetan languages n.i.e. In addition there were also 6,080 responses of both English and a non-official language; 245 of both French and a non-official language; 1,130 of both English and French; and 140 of English, French and a non-official language. Figures shown are for the number of single language responses and the percentage of total single-language responses.

Religion

Religious groups in Saskatchewan (1981–2021)

Religious group	2021		2011		2001		1991		1981
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Christianity	621,250		726,920		795,935		858,120		889,820
Irreligion	403,960		246,305		151,450		107,225		60,255
Islam	25,455		10,040		2,230		1,185		1,120
Indigenous spirituality	16,300		12,240		—	—	—	—	—	—
Hinduism	14,150		3,570		1,590		1,680		1,150
Sikhism	9,040		1,650		500		565		220
Buddhism	4,410		4,265		3,055		1,885		985
Judaism	1,105		940		865		1,370		1,585
Other	7,540		2,810		7,525		4,000		1,065
Total responses	1,103,205		1,008,760		963,150		976,040		956,440
Total population	1,132,505		1,053,960		978,933		988,928		968,313

Migration

Immigration

Saskatchewan Immigration StatisticsTemplate:RpTemplate:Rp

Year	Immigrant percentage	Immigrant population	Total population
1901		36,195	91,279
1911		243,681	492,432
1921		299,677	757,510
1931		318,545	921,785
1941		238,903	895,992
1951		175,829	831,728
1961		149,389	925,181
1971		110,690	926,240

The 2021 census reported that immigrants (individuals born outside Canada) comprise 137,615 persons or 12.5 percent of the total population of Saskatchewan.

Immigrants in Saskatchewan by country of birth

Country of birth	2021		2016		2011		2006		2001
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Philippines	35,955		26,865		12,775		2,455		2,065
India	15,660		9,630		3,080		1,685		1,100
China	8,650		7,485		4,625		3,405		2,730
Pakistan	7,110		6,860		3,115		330		385
United Kingdom	6,785		7,020		7,370		7,685		8,450
United States of America	5,215		4,845		5,020		5,425		5,865
Nigeria	5,030		1,695		535		235		95
Vietnam	3,245		2,620		1,770		1,295		1,465
Bangladesh	3,230		2,575		840		60		65
Ukraine	3,170		3,280		1,715		1,055		1,395
Total immigrants	137,615		112,490		68,780		48,160		47,825
Total responses	1,103,205		1,070,560		1,008,760		953,850		963,150
Total population	1,132,505		1,098,352		1,053,960		985,386		978,933

Recent immigration

The 2021 Canadian census counted a total of 43,120 people who immigrated to Saskatchewan between 2016 and 2021.

Recent immigrants to Saskatchewan by country of birth (2016 to 2021)
Country of birth	Population	% recent immigrants
Philippines	10,460
India	7,940
China	3,685
Nigeria	3,305
Pakistan	1,685
Syria	1,240
Bangladesh	1,225
United States of America	990
Vietnam	865
South Africa	775
Total	43,120

Interprovincial migration

File:Net cumulative interprovincial migration, 1997 to 2017, as a share of population, 2016.png

Net cumulative interprovincial migration per Province from 1997 to 2017, as a share of population of each Provinces

Interprovincial migration has long been a demographic challenge for Saskatchewan, and it was often said that "Saskatchewan's most valuable export [was] its young people". The trend reversed in 2006 as the nascent oil fracking industry started growing in the province, but returned to negative net migration starting in 2013. Most people migrating from Saskatchewan move west to Alberta or British Columbia.

Interprovincial migration in Saskatchewan

	In-migrants	Out-migrants	Net migration
2008–09	18,127	15,144	2,983
2009–10	17,237	15,084	2,153
2010–11	16,602	16,057	545
2011–12	19,386	17,508	1,878
2012–13	16,982	16,590	392
2013–14	16,371	18,210	−1,839
2014–15	15,346	19,874	−4,528
2015–16	15,260	19,532	−4,272
2016–17	13,130	18,890	−5,760
2017–18	11,637	20,112	−8,475
2018–19	11,637	23,607	−9,688

Source: Statistics Canada

See also

<div class="thumbinner" style="width:px"><div style="position: relative; width:;">

BC

AB

SK

MB

ON

QC

NB

PE

NS

NL

YT

NT

NU

[[File:||Canadian Provinces and Territories]]

Demographics of Canada's provinces and territories

• Demographics of Canada
• Population of Canada by province and territory