Population of Canada by year

The historical growth of Canada's population is complex and has been influenced in many different ways, such as indigenous populations, expansion of territory, and human migration. Being a new world country, Canada has been predisposed to be a very open society with regards to immigration, which has been the most important factor in its historical population growth.Canadians comprise about 0.5% of the world's total population, with an estimated population of 36,443,632 by the Q4 of 2016. The 2016 Canadian census counted a total population of 35,151,728, an increase of around 5.0 percent over the 2011 figure. Between 1990 and 2008, the population increased by 5.6 million, equivalent to 20.4 percent overall growth.

Despite the fact that Canada's population density is low, many regions in the south such as Southern Ontario, have population densities higher than several European countries. The large size of Canada's north which is not arable, and thus cannot support large human populations, significantly lowers the carrying capacity. Therefore, the population density of the habitable land in Canada can be modest to high depending on the region.

National Aboriginal Populations
(2011 National Household Survey)

Scholars vary on the estimated size of the aboriginal population in what is now Canada prior to colonization and on the effects of European contact. During the late 15th century is estimated to have been between 200,000 and two million, with a figure of 500,000 currently accepted by Canada's Royal Commission on Aboriginal Health. Although not without conflict, European Canadians' early interactions with First Nations and Inuit populations were relatively peaceful. However repeated outbreaks of European infectious diseases such as influenza, measles and smallpox (to which they had no natural immunity), combined with other effects of European contact, resulted in a twenty-five percent to eighty percent Aboriginal population decrease post-contact. Roland G Robertson suggests that during the late 1630s, smallpox killed over half of the Wyandot (Huron), who controlled most of the early North American fur trade in the area of New France. In 1871 there was an enumeration of the aboriginal population within the limits of Canada at the time, showing a total of only 102,358 individuals. According to the 2011 Canadian Census, Aboriginal peoples (First Nations - 851,560, Inuit - 59,445 and Métis - 451,795) numbered at 1,400,685, or 4.3% of the country's total population.

...
Wikipedia