Canada saw staggering population growth in the third quarter of 2023, breaking a 66-year record.

As of October 1, the country's population topped 40.5 million, which is an increase of over 430,000 people from July 1, according to Statistics Canada's latest report.

The agency says this was the highest population growth in any quarter since 1957, when Canada's population grew by 198,000 people.

"At the time, Canada's population was 16.7 million people, and this rapid population growth resulted from the high number of births during the post-war baby boom and high immigration of refugees following the Hungarian Revolution in 1956," reads the StatsCan report.

Canada's #population was estimated at 40,528,396 on October 1, 2023, an increase of 430,635 people (+1.1%) from July 1. This was the highest quarterly rate since 1957. Learn more: https://t.co/k2RMW2RRB0. pic.twitter.com/efhxP4qbd5

— Statistics Canada (@StatCan_eng) December 19, 2023

This time around, the population spike was mainly due to international migration, which accounted for 96 per cent of growth in the third quarter of 2023.

A majority of this growth was made up of an increase in non-permanent residents from about 2.1 million to over 2.5 million.

"The gain in non-permanent residents was mostly due to an increase in the number of work and study permit holders and, to a lesser extent, an increase in the number of refugee claimants," reads the report.

It remains to be seen if this will change after Canada doubled financial requirements and put a 20-hour work week cap on international students.

Canada welcomed over 370,000 immigrants from January to September 2023, reaching nearly 80 per cent of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada's target of 465,000 immigrants for the year.

According to StatsCan, the other 4 per cent gain resulted from natural increase or the difference between the number of births and deaths.

The report predicts that natural growth will remain low in the coming years with an aging population, lower fertility levels, and a higher number of immigrants and non-permanent residents coming to Canada.

Several provinces exceeded population growth rates at the national level (1.1 per cent). Alberta, Prince Edward Island and Ontario's populations increased between 1.2 and 1.3 per cent.

This comes after Canada's population hit a major milestone of 40 million on June 16.

According to Statistics Canada's population clock, the country finally hit the milestone at around 2:55 p.m. ET.