Puebla 2016// Welcome to Canada: New Demographic and Economic Realities of Increased Migration to Rural Western and Northern Regions

Abstract:

Over 280,000 permanent and another 475,000 temporary foreign workers enter Canada each year. Until very recently, 75% of all migrants located to the three big cities: Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, with the vast majority living in Toronto. In the past five years, however, that pattern has drastically changed. During that time, western Canada’s share of immigrants has increased by 62% since 2010. What further differentiates these migration patterns is that immigrants are increasingly less likely to move to large centres even in western Canada, instead many of them are moving to smaller rural communities in search of work.