Canadians Leaving the Country in Growing Numbers, With Nearly Half of Departures From Ontario

Travellers navigate a terminal of Pearson International Airport in Toronto on March 10, 2023. The Canadian Press/Nathan Denette

Emigration rates have been soaring in Canada driven by the ongoing housing shortage and the cost-of-living crisis, a new report suggests. One province in particular accounted for nearly half of the departures.

Among the 81,601 people who left the country in 2024, 39,430 were from Ontario, a report from rental platform liv.rent said. Ontario is the most densely populated province in the nation, but its 48 percent share of departures is notably greater than its 39 percent share of Canada’s total population.

Last year marked the highest level of emigration Canada has seen in several years. Emigration from Canada overall last reached that level in 2017, when 83,210 people departed. In Ontario, its 2024 figure of 39,430 people leaving the province was a new record, according to the report, which is based on data from Statistics Canada.

Ontario also saw a 66.5 percent spike in non-permanent resident departures in 2024 compared to 2023. The province also recorded the highest departure volume of non-permanent residents in Canada, the report said.

British Columbia, Alberta, and Quebec were the next largest sources of emigration, with 18 percent leaving B.C. and 13 percent leaving the other two provinces, but none approached the level of Ontario’s emigration, the report said.

Canada also experienced a major decline in the net flow of non-permanent residents (NPRs) in 2024. Net flow is the difference between inflow and outflow, and Statistics Canada defines NPRs as people from another country with a usual place of residence in Canada, such as temporary workers and international students and their family members.

The year 2024 saw a 50 percent reduction in the number of NPRs remaining in Canada, with net flow falling to 319,506, down from the 2023 net total of 636,427, the report said.

Every province experienced an increase in the outflow of non-permanent residents, with New Brunswick seeing the largest year-over-year rise, at 97 percent. This was followed by Nunavut at 78 percent, Ontario at 67 percent, Alberta at 66 percent, and Nova Scotia at 61 percent.

Interprovincial Movement

Interprovincial migration slowed in 2024, with year-over-year movement dropping by 8 percent compared to 2023.

Manitoba, Quebec, and Saskatchewan were the only provinces to experience an increase in incoming migrants, at 14 percent, 2 percent, and 0.2 percent respectively.

Alberta remained the most sought-after destination for individuals moving within Canada, despite a slight decrease in its in-migration figures compared to 2023.

“Alberta was also the only province to achieve positive net interprovincial migration exceeding 30,000 people,” the report said.

Ontario experienced the largest negative net interprovincial migration in the country, reflecting that a greater number of people exited the province for different locations within Canada than the number of those who arrived.

Impact on Rent

The slowdown in immigration and interprovincial migration, rising emigration, and a growing number of permanent residents leaving Canada came at a benefit to renters, the report said.

Rental prices are no longer rising at the same rate as in recent years, the report indicated, including in the country’s most expensive rental markets of B.C. and Ontario.

Ontario’s average monthly rent for an unfurnished one-bedroom apartment was $1,939 in 2024, indicating a year-over-year rise of just 0.99 percent. The average monthly rent for a similar unit in B.C. is $2,273, up 0.79 percent during the same time period. The modest rise in both provinces in 2024 was in stark contrast to the 13 percent increase that both provinces saw in 2023.

Two Canadian cities are defying the national trend, however. Rent prices are on the rise in both Montreal and Edmonton.

The average rent for an unfurnished one-bedroom unit in Montreal increased nearly 2.6 percent year-over-year to reach $1,659.

The story is similar in Alberta’s capital city. Overall, the average monthly rent for an unfurnished one-bedroom unit in Alberta rose nearly 8 percent from the same period last year, to $1,496.

“Edmonton’s rental market defies the odds, with prices climbing across all unit types year-over-year,” the report said.

Editor’s note: This article was updated to indicate that the rate of emigration is the highest recorded since 2017.