The study found the fertility rate among immigrants fell from 1.68 children per woman in 2001 to 1.42 in 2021. The findings challenge a long-standing assumption behind Canada’s population strategy: that sustained immigration can offset low birth rates and provide a lasting solution to an aging workforce. “Immigration offers a short-term solution to population loss, but does not create population replacement,” the study said. Those who came to Canada after age 15 had a fertility rate of 1.75 in 2021, substantially higher than the Canadian-born rate. Immigrants who arrived at age 15 or younger had a fertility rate of just 1.25, lower than both adult immigrants and Canadian-born residents.