We Haven't Had This Many Canadians Moving to US in Years

Both Canada and the United States appear on a top 10 list of wealthy nations that accept the most number of permanent immigrants. But there's been a big shift in those moving from the former to the latter: Per data from CBC News, emigration out of the Great White North to its southern neighbor has hit a high not seen in a decade, with a survey from the US Census Bureau showing that in 2022, 126,340 people ditched Canada for the US—a 70% spike from the 75,752 individuals who came to the US from there in 2012.

• Breakdown: The CBC parses things further, noting that of those 126,340 emigrants, 53,311 were born in Canada, 42,595 were US expats who decided to return home, and 30,434 were foreign nationals from other countries who tried Canada first, then headed to the US.

• Buddy-buddy: The US is the nation where most Canadian emigrants head to, according to UN data pulled together by Statistics Canada. As of 2020, 800,000 Canadians called the United States home. For context, about 100,000 lived in the UK.
• Affordability: Realtors and immigration attorneys tell the CBC that many of those who are leaving desire a lower cost of living. The average US home price is about $425,000, while in Canada it hovers around $515,000.
• Government gripes: Other defectors are disgruntled at their government under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. "This last year, I got 50 times more calls than in the past decade," says Marco Terminesi, an ex-pro soccer player who now sells real estate in South Florida. "Almost all of those callers are saying politics is why they want to leave. I don't pry, I just respond, 'Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. I hope it gets better.'"
• Other factors: Ontario resident Monica Abramov also cites increasing taxes, a frustrating healthcare system, and crime as what's driving her to make the move to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with her family. "It's a call for Canada to wake up and try to keep its residents," she says.
• Mexico-Canada connection: Earlier this year, the US started putting the squeeze on Canada to require visas for visitors from Mexico, in an attempt to quash a different demographic of migrants: Mexican nationals using the Canadian border as a "back door" into the States, per the Wall Street Journal.

(More emigration stories.)