Alberta is top destination for people moving out of B.C., data shows
Posted December 21, 2022 4:32 pm.
Last Updated December 21, 2022 4:33 pm.
For the first time since 2013, B.C.’s quarterly net interprovincial migration turned negative, with most of those making a move heading to Alberta.
Economist with the University of Calgary, Trevor Tombe, says Alberta is seeing a lot of newcomers as of late.
“Alberta is experiencing a pretty unusually large inflow. In this last quarter in the province, nearly 20,000 people net moving in, which is larger than any other quarter since 1980. So that’s a pretty unique circumstance,” he told CityNews.
“Historically, you do see inflows and outflows to Alberta tied very closely to oil prices.”
From/To charts…
Let’s start with BC<->AB
Net flow is headed to AB. pic.twitter.com/htqa0JkJ51
— Blake Shaffer (@bcshaffer) December 21, 2022
While the numbers may seem jarring, Tombe says it won’t drastically affect the province’s population.
“This doesn’t mean that people are leaving in droves and no one is coming. It’s a combination of many people moving into British Columbia, nearly 15,000. Just slightly more people are leaving, nearly 20,000. And most of that is really driven entirely by people moving from B.C. to Alberta,” he explained.
B.C. is not alone in losing people, with Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba and Saskatchewan also seeing more people leaving than coming. According to the data, Alberta and the Maritime provinces are the only ones that saw a net gain in migration.
Related story: Canada’s population growing faster than it has in decades: StatCan
Tombe says it all comes during a time of high migration rates within Canada.
“Nationally, people are just moving at a far higher frequency than they normally do,” he said, noting rates are at their highest point since the 1990’s.
Tombe says the movement of people could be attributed to people cashing in on the sale of homes in more expensive markets and moving to less expensive ones.
The data comes as Statistics Canada says the country’s population has grown more in 2022 than any other year since Confederation.
With files from The Canadian Press
