Ontario Just Broke A Record For How Many People Recently GTFO Of The Province

It seems like Ontario is continuously breaking records, but this one does not exactly boast any bragging rights. Ontario just saw the largest number of people leave the province since the early 1980s.

According to a recent report from RE/MAX that used data from Statistics Canada, close to 12,000 residents said goodbye to Ontario to move to a different province or territory in the country in the second quarter of this year.

"Housing affordability has been a concern in major urban centres, even before the pandemic," RE/MAX said. Recently the 6ix was named one of the most unaffordable places to live in North America, with Hamilton and Ottawa also cracking the list.

RE/MAX notes that the affordability crisis is also impacting smaller towns, which has "left many young Canadians and first-time homebuyers sitting on the sidelines."

Based on recent data from Statistics Canada, only 319,295 (or 11.4%) of Ontarians 18 to 34 years old own a home, which means 88.6% have yet to reach that milestone. On top of that, parents are doling out more money for first-time homebuyers in Toronto, now gifting, on average, an estimated $130,000 to help with down payments.

RE/MAX noted that most people were moving away from land-locked places to provinces with coastal views; B.C. attracted more than 15,000 people in the second quarter of 2021, despite Vancouver recently beating out Toronto for expensive rental prices.

Atlantic Canada was also a popular spot for Canadians to move to, breaking records with its largest population growth since 1961.