Quebec has lost almost 600,000 people since 1971

MONTREAL—Every single year starting in 1971 through to 2015, more people have moved out of Quebec than moved in from other provinces, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank. “Migration, the movement of people from one province to another, is a powerful indicator of a jurisdiction’s economic success or failure,” said Jason Clemens, Fraser Institute executive vice-president and co-author of Interprovincial Migration in Canada: Quebeckers Vote with Their Feet.

The numbers for Quebec are staggering. Since 1971, 1,651,776 residents left the province of Quebec, while only 1,069,306 moved in, for a net loss of 582,470 people. In comparison, Atlantic Canada over the same period attracted almost twice as many people from other provinces (1,868,104) than Quebec. “Alarmingly, those leaving Quebec are young and in the early stages of their careers. This trend contributes to Quebec’s ageing population and could have widespread ramifications in the years ahead,” said Yanick Labrie, Fraser Institute senior fellow and study co-author. The study also spotlights migration patterns in other provinces. Interestingly, since 2003/04, Ontario’s net loss of 142,514 people surpassed Quebec’s net loss (101,497). Most people who left those two provinces during this period landed in Alberta or British Columbia. “Provinces that are losing people could learn lessons from the recent past. In the 1990s, Saskatchewan was bleeding young people so its then-NDP government adopted economic policies that promoted growth, opportunity and competitiveness,” Clemens said. For interviews with study co-author Yanick Labrie, please contact: Aanand Radia, Media Relations Specialist, The Fraser Institute, aanand.radia@fraserinstitute.org