Emigration out of Canada soared to the highest level since the 1970s towards the end of 2021, likely due to people seeking better economic opportunities..“This is probably due to the uncertainty of the pandemic, changes to labour market structures, and people now anticipating higher inflation,” said.Luisa Veronis, a social geographer and professor at the University of Ottawa..According to Statistics Canada, emigration out of the country was up throughout 2021, with nearly 56,000 leaving during the year..Emigration numbers remained low during 2020, but the number of people leaving the country spiked in 2021. More than 9,000 Canadians left in the first quarter of 2021, 11,000 in the second quarter, more than 18,000 in the third quarter, and more than 16,000 in the fourth quarter..The third-quarter immigration numbers are the highest since 2016, while the fourth-quarter numbers, which aligned with when the Liberal government announced vaccine mandates in order to travel, are the highest since 1974. Compared to the five-year median before 2020, emigration trends in Canada were up 55.7%..However, immigration into Canada was also up, with more than 120,000 entering the country in the third quarter of 2021, and nearly 140,000 in the fourth quarter. These are the highest numbers ever recorded in the country.. Screen-Shot-2022-03-31-at-12.33.05-PMImage by Statistics Canada and Better Dwelling .Veronis said it was also possible many immigrants who arrived in Canada before the pandemic, finding it difficult to gain employment could have returned to their home countries..She said reasons Canadians likely moved to the U.S. may have increased due to salaries generally being higher in the country. The U.S. has remained the most popular destination for Canadian emigrants, with 60% of all emigrants moving there..However, since the Statistics Canada data did not show what provinces or cities Canadians were leaving from, or what countries they were migrating to, Veronis said there are a lot of unknowns..Omer Livvarcin, co-author of Risk Management for Nonprofit Organizations and part-time professor at the University of Ottawa, said the rise in resignations across the world has created more job opportunities abroad for Canadians..Livvarcin said he believes the pandemic led to many Canadians wanting to go after new opportunities. “I think COVID triggered this psychology because many people want to try something different, and the pandemic gave people the opportunity they are looking for. There is a common understanding that everything has changed,” he said..Livvarcin said he knows many colleagues who decided to move to the U.S. or European countries because they are looking for “new adventures, but less risk.”.“And this was a perfect opportunity because everybody talks about this being a new world. And this new world means trying new things.”.Matthew Horwood is the Parliamentary Bureau Chief of the Western Standard
