The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that the number of temporary residents in Canada has declined for the first time in three years, after a series of policy changes introduced by Ottawa last year to reduce immigration levels. The Globe's Vanmala Subramaniam writes that data from Statistics Canada published Wednesday show that there were 30,000 fewer temporary residents in the country as of Jan. 1, compared with Oct. 1, 2024. The total stood at just over three million people, or 7.3 per cent of the population, down from 7.4 per cent the previous quarter. The decrease in the number of temporary residents is causing overall population growth to slow. In the fourth quarter of 2024, the population grew by 0.2 per cent to roughly 41.5 million people, the slowest rate of growth since late 2020, when many border restrictions were in place because of the pandemic. Statscan noted that population growth was strongest in Alberta. The impact of a population growth slowdown is being felt on the ground in weaker consumer spending and loosening rental markets, Robert Kavcic, senior economist at Bank of Montreal, wrote in a Wednesday note. "It's also early days on this trend with further normalization ahead," he added.