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More people moved to B.C. than elsewhere in Canada in the last year: StatCan

The province recorded numbers last seen in the ’90s
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The last time B.C. had this many new residents was 1993. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck )

Did you move to British Columbia from another province in the past year? New data shows you aren’t the only one.

B.C. recorded Canada’s largest net gain in interprovincial migration in the twelve-month period ending June 30, 2021, according to Statistics Canada report released on Sept. 29.

The province’s net interprovincial migration – the difference between residents moving into and out of a region – was +34,277 in 2020/21.

B.C. also saw its largest migration increase in 28 years. The last time numbers were this high was 1993/94, when the province gained 37,871 residents.

READ MORE: Migration drives Greater Victoria’s population growth

Other provinces seeing high net migration are Nova Scotia (+9,949), New Brunswick (+3,887) and Newfoundland and Labrador (+785).

B.C.’s neighbours in the Prairies didn’t fare so well, with Alberta (-11,831), Manitoba (-9,685) and Saskatchewan (-9,410) reporting more residents moving out that in.

Overall, Canada’s population is still struggling to catch up to pre-pandemic numbers. Statistics Canada attributed this not only to “the number of COVID-19-related deaths,” but to “border restrictions… vastly reducing international migration flows.”

The country’s pace of growth – estimated to be +0.5 per cent – was less than half of its 2019/20 growth (+1.2%). That marks the slowest growth rate since 1915/16 during the First World War.


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