Bye, bye: Alberta has gained TONS of BC residents so far this year

Alberta has been calling, and many Canadians seem to have been answering the phone, especially in BC, where a huge exodus of residents helped the province lead the country in interprovincial migration so far in 2024.

New data from Statistics Canada revealed that interprovincial migration (89,408 migrants) was slower in the first quarter of 2024 than in the same quarter one year earlier (97,917 migrants, a drop of 8.7%).

Most provinces and territories had net losses in their exchanges with other provinces or territories in the first quarter of 2024, except for three, with Alberta leading the charge with a gain of 12,482, New Brunswick with a gain of 1,627, and Yukon with 60.

“This was the 11th straight quarter of net gains for Alberta, following losses in 19 out of 24 quarters from the third quarter of 2015 to the second quarter of 2021,” the agency said in a news release.

The largest contributors to the net gain in Alberta were people moving there from Ontario (9,398 in-migrants) and British Columbia (9,218 in-migrants).

Albertans who decided to leave the province also turned to BC and Ontario, with 5,744 people leaving for BC and 3,893 people heading East for Ontario.

Alberta’s population reached 4,849,906 as of April 1, up from 4,800,768 on January 1, marking a 1.02% increase in the span of just three months, giving it the largest gain of any province or territory.

If you were looking into moving to Alberta, it launched a new “Alberta is Calling Attraction Bonus,” a one-time bonus that will give a $5,000 refundable tax credit to people working in eligible occupations who move to Alberta and meet additional eligibility criteria.

Canada also reached a big milestone in the first quarter of 2024, surpassing 41 million residents.