More people are leaving Ontario than anywhere else in Canada and here's where they're going

If you've been thinking about ditching your province and moving across Canada, you're definitely not the only one.

Fresh data from Statistics Canada shows that Canadians are on the move, with over 283,000 people packing up and relocating to a different part of the country in the last year.

While some regions gained thousands of new residents, others saw more people heading out. Ontario saw the biggest losses by far, with over 82,000 people leaving the province — nearly 30% of all interprovincial movers between July 2024 and June 2025.

So where are they all going? One province in particular is pulling in Canadians from across the country by the tens of thousands — and no, it's actually not B.C.

Canada on the move

Whether for cheaper housing, new jobs, political views or just a fresh start, Canadians had plenty of reasons to shake things up this past year. And while moving between provinces isn't exactly rare, the latest numbers make it clear that some places are way more popular than others.

In total, 283,508 people across the country moved to a different province or territory this past year. That's a pretty big shake-up considering it's more than the entire population of Regina, Kelowna or Barrie.

But not all provinces saw the same action. Alberta, Nova Scotia, P.E.I. and Newfoundland were the only places that actually gained more people than they lost. Everyone else — including hotspots like Ontario, Quebec and B.C. — ended up with more people leaving than arriving.

Alberta is winning the popularity contest

The undisputed champ of this migration shuffle is Alberta. It brought in 75,702 new residents from across Canada — that's 27% of everyone who made a move.

Even more impressive, it gained 28,138 more people than it lost, which is over eight times more than Nova Scotia, the second-most attractive province by net migration.

In fact, for every five people who left Alberta for another province, eight more people moved in — meaning it took in an impressive 60% more Canadians than it lost.

Ontarians are heading out

Ontario didn't just see the most people leave overall — it also posted the biggest net loss of any province. With 82,729 departures and only 64,950 arrivals, the province lost 27% more residents than it gained. That adds up to a deficit of nearly 18,000 people in just one year.

So where are Ontarians going? Well, everywhere — but Alberta was the clear favourite, drawing in 25,762 people from Ontario.

Ontario was the most common province of origin for movers to every province except Saskatchewan and B.C. (where it was more common to be coming from Alberta), and of course Ontario itself (where it was most common to be coming from Quebec).

The Ontario-to-Alberta move was actually the most popular route in all of Canada, making up about nine percent of all interprovincial movers.

B.C. was (a not-so-close) second, with just over 16,000 people from Ontario heading to the West Coast.

Next-door neighbour Quebec came third as the destination for about 12,500 Ontarians, while Nova Scotia attracted just under 8,000 of them.

Is anyone moving to Ontario?

Despite being the year's biggest loser, Ontario still saw a decent number of arrivals (64,950 to be exact), mostly from Quebec and the Atlantic provinces. It was actually the top destination for people leaving Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, P.E.I. and Newfoundland.

Ontario was especially popular with Quebecers, attracting over 17,000 residents from across the provincial border — a whopping 62% of all interprovincial migrants from Quebec.

What about the rest of the country?

Manitoba saw the most lopsided losses, with around 32% more people leaving than arriving. Its biggest outflow was to Alberta (4,807 people), followed by Ontario and B.C.

Saskatchewan also saw more departures than arrivals, with a net loss of around 2,500 people. And while it had a decent number of new residents from Ontario and Alberta, it wasn't enough to balance things out.

Quebec and B.C. both lost more people than they gained too. Quebec had a net loss of just over 5,000 people — most of whom went to Ontario.

But on a per-capita basis, Quebec actually saw the least movement of anywhere in the country. With the lowest number of both arrivals and departures compared to its population, Quebecers seem more likely than anyone else to stay put.

B.C., meanwhile, lost around 2,400 people on net, with most of its migrants heading to Alberta. More than half of all British Columbians who moved out chose Alberta as their new home.

Atlantic life is looking good

The East Coast is looking pretty popular these days. Nova Scotia recorded a net gain of 3,226 Canadians, making it the second-biggest winner after Alberta.

P.E.I. had the highest gain per capita with 571 net migrants per 100,000 people — even though the total number for the tiny island province was just over 1,000.

Newfoundland barely squeaked out a net gain of 65 people, but hey — a win's a win. Only New Brunswick lost people overall, down 186 residents.

The territories are in flux

The territories are on a whole other level. They had by far the highest per-capita movement, both in and out.

For every 100,000 residents, just under 3,200 arrived and more than 3,500 left. To put that into perspective, it's around 12 times more movement than Quebec, which had only 250 arrivals and 306 departures per 100,000 people.

The small population sizes in Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon mean even a few hundred moves make a big impact — and the data suggests a lot of people in the North aren't sticking around for long.

The big picture

It's not hard to guess why Alberta's getting all the love. Lower housing prices, booming job opportunities and a generally lower cost of living have been pulling in Canadians for years. Plus, the fast-growing cities of Calgary and Edmonton have all the perks of urban life, minus the sky-high rent and traffic headaches of Toronto or Vancouver.

If current trends hold, Alberta might keep racking up those numbers — especially as affordability continues to be a huge concern across the country.

Meanwhile, Ontario's steady losses suggest that unless something changes, more and more people will be hitting the road in search of something better.

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