Grade by Grade
D. Changing Populations · Changing Populations: Canada's People, Patterns and Trends

On the Move: Migration Within Canada

D1.3 A1.5About 70 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can describe types of internal migration in Canada: interprovincial, intraprovincial, rural-to-urban, urban-to-rural and north–south.
  • I can analyse recent interprovincial migration data and explain the trends with push and pull factors.
  • I can explain migration patterns of First Nations, Métis and Inuit people, including movement between home communities and cities.
  • I can predict how migration trends might change and support the prediction with evidence.

Words to know

internal migration
Moving from one place to another within the same country.
interprovincial migration
Moving from one province or territory to another.
intraprovincial migration
Moving within the same province, for example from Toronto to Barrie.
push factor
Something that makes people want to leave a place.
pull factor
Something that attracts people to a place.
intervening obstacle
Something that makes a move harder, such as distance, cost or leaving family.
net migration
Arrivals minus departures.
fly-in, fly-out (FIFO)
Working in a remote place (such as a mine or oil sands site) for a set number of days, then flying home, without moving there permanently.
remote work
Working from home or anywhere using the internet, which lets some people live far from their employer.

Hook: the moving truck test

In 2023, about 333,000 people moved from one province or territory to another (Statistics Canada). Alberta gained 55,107 more people than it lost: the largest gain for any province since comparable data began in 1972. Ontario lost 36,197. What makes so many people pack up and move across the country?

Remember from Grade 8

You learned about push and pull factors and rural-to-urban migration around the world. In Grade 9 you will analyse migration within Canada using real data.

Types of internal migration

  • Interprovincial: between provinces and territories (Ontario to Alberta, B.C. to Nova Scotia).
  • Intraprovincial: within a province. For years, many people have left the City of Toronto for surrounding regions and smaller cities in Ontario, often for more affordable housing.
  • Rural-to-urban: from farms and small towns to cities for school and jobs. This has gone on for over a century.
  • Urban-to-rural or to small towns: retirees moving to cottage country, and people who can work remotely leaving expensive cities, which increased during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • North–south: people from northern and remote communities moving south for education, health care or jobs, and some moving back. The share of Inuit living in Inuit Nunangat fell from 72.8% in 2016 to 69.0% in 2021 (Statistics Canada), as more Inuit live in cities such as Ottawa, Edmonton and Montréal.
  • Temporary moves: fly-in, fly-out workers, students leaving home for college or university, and seasonal workers.
Net interprovincial migration, 2023 (selected provinces)Alberta+55,107Nova Scotia+6,169New Brunswick+4,790Prince Edward Island+818British Columbia-8,624Ontario-36,1970Source: Statistics Canada, population estimates (March 2024)
In 2023, Alberta gained far more people from other provinces than it lost, while Ontario and British Columbia lost more than they gained. The Maritime provinces had smaller gains.
Worked example

Let's analyse the 2023 interprovincial data

Use the chart to describe the pattern, then explain it with push and pull factors.

  1. Pattern: the two most expensive housing markets (Ontario and British Columbia) had net losses; Alberta had a record net gain; Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and PEI had smaller gains.
  2. Push factors from Ontario and B.C.: very high home prices and rents, long commutes.
  3. Pull factors to Alberta: lower housing costs, jobs, no provincial sales tax; the Alberta government also ran an advertising campaign, "Alberta is Calling", to recruit workers from other provinces.
  4. Pull factors to the Maritimes: more affordable homes, a slower pace of life, ability to work remotely.
  5. Scale check: B.C. lost 8,624 people in 2023, its first net loss since 2012 (Statistics Canada), so this was a change, not a long-term pattern for B.C.

Housing costs pushed people out of Ontario and B.C.; affordability and jobs pulled them to Alberta and the Maritimes.

Push and pull factors: one move from Ontario to Alberta (example)Origine.g. Toronto areaDestinatione.g. CalgarymigrationPUSH: high rent, long commutesPULL: jobs, lower housing costsintervening obstacles:distance, moving costs,leaving family and friends
Every move has push factors at the origin, pull factors at the destination, and intervening obstacles in between.

Migration in history

Internal migration patterns change as the economy changes:

  • In the early 1900s, people moved west to farm the Prairies.
  • For much of the 1900s, people left farms for cities as farming became mechanized and city jobs grew.
  • After the 1992 cod moratorium, thousands of people in Newfoundland and Labrador lost fishing jobs, and many young people moved to other provinces, especially Alberta for oil and gas work. This is one reason Newfoundland and Labrador now has Canada's oldest population.
  • Alberta's gains rise and fall with oil prices: when prices crash, migration to Alberta slows or reverses.

Indigenous mobility

Many First Nations, Métis and Inuit people move between home communities and cities for education, health care, jobs and family. Some reserves and northern communities lack high schools, hospitals or enough housing, so people travel or relocate. Others return home to raise children near family and land. Friendship centres in cities, such as those in the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres, support people who move.

Thinking skill: predictions need evidence (A1.5)

When you predict a migration trend, name the evidence and the conditions that would change it. For example: "If housing in Ontario stays far more expensive than in Alberta, and Alberta keeps adding jobs, net migration to Alberta will probably continue. A fall in oil prices could reverse it."

Hands-on activity

Why do people move? A household survey

You need: paper, a pencil, and 4 to 6 adults (family, neighbours or family friends, with permission).

  1. Ask each person: Have you ever moved to a different city, province or country? What made you leave (push)? What attracted you (pull)? What made it hard (obstacles)?
  2. Sort the answers into categories: jobs, housing, family, education, lifestyle or climate, other.
  3. Make a bar graph of the most common push and pull factors.
  4. Compare your results with the 2023 interprovincial data in this lesson. Do your interviewees mention housing costs?

Look for: a labelled bar graph, honest categories, and a conclusion that admits your small sample may not represent Canada.

Just for fun

Interprovincial migration means moving between provinces. Interprovincial migraine means moving between provinces with a couch that doesn't fit in the van.

Your turn

1

What is the difference between interprovincial and intraprovincial migration?

2

Which province had the largest net gain from interprovincial migration in 2023, and how large was it?

3

Give two push factors that led people to leave Ontario in recent years.

4

What is an intervening obstacle? Give an example.

5

Why do some First Nations and Inuit people move from home communities to cities?

6

How did the 1992 cod moratorium affect migration in Newfoundland and Labrador?

More practice: warm-up

1

What is a pull factor?

2

About how many people moved between provinces or territories in 2023?

3

How much did Ontario lose through interprovincial migration in 2023?

4

What does FIFO mean?

5

Name one reason people moved to small towns during the COVID-19 pandemic.

More practice: on your own

1

Explain why Alberta's interprovincial gains rise and fall over time.

2

The share of Inuit living in Inuit Nunangat fell from 72.8% to 69.0%. Suggest two reasons and one effect.

3

How can remote work change settlement patterns?

4

Why might many people leave the City of Toronto but stay in Ontario?

5

B.C.'s net loss in 2023 was its first since 2012. Why is it important to look at several years of data before calling something a trend?

Challenge

1

Predict interprovincial migration for Ontario and Alberta over the next five years. State your evidence and what could change your prediction.

2

Explain how one person's move from Ontario to Nova Scotia could create both opportunities and challenges for the Nova Scotia community.

3

Compare the push and pull factors behind migration from rural Newfoundland and Labrador in the 1990s with migration from Toronto in the 2020s.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

Moving from Ontario to Alberta is an example of:

2.

Which province had the largest net gain from interprovincial migration in 2023?

3.

Which is a pull factor?

4.

What is an intervening obstacle?

5.

Which event pushed many young people to leave Newfoundland and Labrador in the 1990s?

6.

Why do some Inuit move from Inuit Nunangat to southern cities?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: D1.3 also covers migration within Canada. Students analyse current data and use evidence-based prediction (A1.5).

Common difficulties:

  • Reading a diverging bar chart. Bars left of zero are net losses.
  • Thinking one year makes a trend.
  • Confusing interprovincial and intraprovincial. Inter = between; intra = within.

How to help: Most families have moved at least once. Talk about why you moved (or stayed) and what made it hard. If relatives have moved west or east for work, ask them about it. Avoid making assumptions about Indigenous communities; let your teen use sources from Indigenous organizations.