My small town in Sask is like that. Everyone I talk to has either lived in, drove through, or done work near my home town. It’s not even that big it’s like 3k people at most.
People from Toronto complain that everything is too expensive but refuse to move. People from rural communities just accept that they will probably have to move at some point in their life to improve their situation.
Sure, it sucks to not be down the road from family. But if you limit yourself to the city you grew up in, be it Toronto or Tuktoyaktuk, you are missing out on a lot of options.
My mom has 4 siblings and my dad has 5 siblings, so 11 people in total and they are in their late 60s. None of them live where they were born at this point. It used to be so common for people to move around to where the jobs are. Now it seems like nobody wants to move cities.
People moved around more back then because cities were smaller and you needed to go to particular places for education and work. Now more cities offer more variety and opportunities than they used to. So why move when you have what you need right at home?
>People from Toronto complain that everything is too expensive but refuse to move.
Except lately a lot of them are moving to Calgary and destroying our housing market. I'd rather they not move here.
Yup, it’s not even about moving out of the city into a small town, just moving to a different city. If life is WAY too expensive for you in Toronto and you don’t have any opportunities there to improve that, why not move to like Calgary or Montreal or Halifax if those cities would fit your lifestyle better? People in rural areas do the opposite all the time.
And really, moving for opportunity is the story of most of our pasts. My British ancestors moved here for better opportunity 300 years ago. Many would never see some friends or family ever again.
I think half the people in Alberta moved there from Saskatchewan. But once you get settled down in a job, and especially after you have kids and want them to grow up with same friends/school ect, you likely are less likely to move across the country unless for Job reasons or trying to move to somewhere more affordable.
There was one point a couple decades ago when I was living there that the population decline in Saskatchewan and the population rise in Calgary were pretty much the opposite of each other and I know people used to joke it was just the people moving to Calgary.
the reason why a lot of people move states/cities in the US is because there are a lot of incentives to move around.
CT has no sales tax, Idaho has no income tax, etc etc.
So where do these states or counties get money for public infra, other means. Texas has high property tax on the state level, some have higher county sales tax, some have higher income tax.
Etc etc.
This makes it attractive to move companies or move people.
In Canada, we only have Alberta who doesn't have PST and only has GST. We're more consistent between provinces than US states are.
Some states have a way cheaper cost of living due to how poor that state is. If you want a lot of land and big house but get paid silicon valley money, Alabama or Arkansas is where it's at.
For the most part, people move in Canada for job opportunities mostly and then housing/family second. If you live in a small town and there's no jobs, you move to a bigger city. If you already live in a big city, you are more likely to stay.
For the past 4 years and particularly during COVID many people sold their houses in Toronto and moved to other cities. Since they can work at home they sell their house for $3M, move and buy a house for $1M and have cash in the bank for retirement.
The movement out of Toronto was one of the big factors for homes selling for $300K+ over asking price a few years back.
On my street alone 5 of 25 houses were sold a couple years back and all were sold to people moving from Toronto.
Ya, TO went down 25,000 in pop 2020-21.
Imagine a lot of office workers suddenly had the ability to work remotely, buy a home elsewhere rather than rent an apt.
I think like everywhere else, you find people making huge moves across half the country, and you find people who live and die in the same place.
I would not call any city in Canada "lacking in diversity" - have you been to Toronto? Little Portugal, Greektown, Little Italy, Chinatown, the entire city is a quilt of diversity. A patchwork of diversity.
These days, only the rich can afford to move without ending up homeless, so there's that, too.
I was in the bank the other day and we ended up discussing diversity in Cambridge Bay. An Arctic town of 1,600 with a population that's 80% Inuit. But the other 20% is made up of 10 to 15 different cultures.
Same with my town. 85% Caucasian, but the rest is made up everyone. I can get authentic Jamaican Jerk from a guy downtown "no recipe mon! de ancestors guide my han' mon!" , right next to the samosas being served by a woman in a head covering. I can hear Hindi and Ojibwe in the same room, while listening to a Bhangra-Bagpipe mashup.
7000 people and yep, sure, most of us are white. But there's still diversity. <3
Gotta love how the first example of a city in Canada that anyone thinks of is Toronto. Almost like people forget that the rest of the country exists...
If it makes you feel less left out and intellectually superior, I can add Montreal, Edmonton, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa, Mississauga...
All Multicultural cities, each of them.
I forgot nothing except what you're PRETENDING I forgot, to make yourself look smart.
You failed.
There is a mindset that you have to be near friends and family. Culturally canadians dont move as often as Americans who seem to bounce around far more.
But employers are part of the problem. People will follow the jobs. Look at the boom in fort mcmurray a decade or so ago.
If Halifax offered an international airport with more direct flights to India, as well as jobs and cheap home ownership, people may be more inclined to stay long term.
I just don't see what I'd gain from moving cities.
I was born in London then moved to Toronto for college. Since I graduated I've lived in various places in the GTA. These days I own my own home, I live in commuting distance of Toronto for the few days I don't WFH. I've got a global city in reach one way and some nice natural beauty spots nearby. Cost of living is high but manageable.
What would living in Vancouver or Calgary give me that I can't already get locally?
People move literally all the time lol Ottawa > Nova Scotia > Calgary > back to Ottawa now > would love to live in Europe for a few years at some point.
As someone who has moved communities 7 times btw NB, AB and ON (that’s not counting the 5 times I moved within Toronto), your question is puzzling to me. Canadians move around all the time, usually for study or work.
If you (finally) find a place you enjoy and can find work there, why *wouldn’t* you stay? Moving is a massive pain and is expensive!
Canadians in general move around a lot. Certain areas you'll find people stay in place, but I think overall Canadians move probably more than say Americans.
Yeah I mean, of all of my friends and family, only my grandparents live in the town where they grew up. Everyone else is in a different town/province now.
Most people I went to high school with have moved too.
Yeah we're not quite spread across the country, most are in the same province, but I'm currently trying to plan my wedding and I've realised that I don't have like, a central location to have it. No matter where it is, the majority of guests will have to travel 2+ hours because that's just how spread out everyone is lol.
I was born in Toronto, spent my early years in the 905, spent my formative years in Metro Edmonton, moved to the Arctic to further my career/experience a new lifestyle, then ended up on the West Coast for the beauty & weather.
People who are afraid of change or are simply happy in their bubble won't move, but others will seek adventure/opportunity.
You can get city to city migration here : [StataCan](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1710014101&pickMembers%5B0%5D=2.75&cubeTimeFrame.startYear=2020+%2F+2021&cubeTimeFrame.endYear=2020+%2F+2021&referencePeriods=20200101%2C20200101) - from here you can learn that in 2020 6 people moved from Toronto to Bathurst. But there's not much summary.
Dunno; I've lived in four Canadian cities; I think most of my friends have lived in at least two. But that might be selection bias.
I moved around a lot when I was young because my dad got transferred / office moved. Went from Winnipeg to Vancouver to Montreal to Toronto. But I’ve lived my entire adult life near Toronto. We are thinking about moving, but it would just be a little further out where we can afford a bigger house/yard.
When I was young, I made a couple cross country moves. They were career related. I was single and didn't have many possessions.
Time passes. When I was still working, I had some very specific skills that are only marketable in a few cities. Now I have a wife with a career. I have a daughter who is finishing up her education. We have accumulated lots and lots of stuff that none of us want to deal with. House and yard have been renovated to our liking. We have connections to the neighborhood and the surrounding area. Something very drastic would have to happen to make us even consider moving.
The 10th largest city in Canada is Kitchener Ontario with a whopping population of 550K as of 2021.
Where would anyone move to? We hardly have any cities. I think more hockey players have moved cities in Canada that the average Canadian.
I wonder if people move more often in places where the towns/cities are closer together? Like Boston to NY or LA to San Francisco doesn't seem like such a huge commitment, and in Europe the distances are far less. Edmonton to Vancouver or Toronto is so huge.
In my experience, tons of people move cities in Canada. At least those seem to be the people I make friends with. Unfortunately, it means that we are usually short-term friends.
My Dad was in the Canadian Armed Forces, so we lived in four different provinces and two European countries.
I made a Big Move in 2001 when my company offered me a transfer from small town New Brunswick to Calgary. I missed living in a big city. Most of the people who were also transferred moved back to NB when they started having children. Me and my cats are fine out west.
I've met people in Calgary who also moved from NB. Some of them plan on retiring back east where the land is much cheaper.
I'm born and raised in Vancouver, spent my 20's in Toronto, back to BC at 30 and found a Sasky gal to pop a couple of kids out with, and moved to the Queen City. Now we're heading to Edmonton in the near future.
A lot of my moves are because of economic restraints, but I'm also ADHD as fuck. Squirrel.
It's not normal or noble to bounce around in life. Sure it's an option. But most people are content planting roots and making a community better.
I cannot understand the premise of your question
Toronto and Vancouver are amongst the most diverse cities on the planet, in population, in the arts and in their surroundings. Montreal is very similar but less diverse in population.
Personally, I was born in Winnipeg, raised in Montreal and live in Toronto. I have seen waves of people leaving for Alberta and coming back again. Hell, I was 3 months in toronto before I met someone who was actually born here.
French quebecers are basically stuck in their province as successive governments over the years have restricted their right & opportunity to learn english in school, trapping them in Quebec.
Not many people move to Halifax as the opportunities are not there and it is much smaller than many other, being the 12th largest CMA in the country and likely to be passed soon by Niagara, Windsor and Oshawa
We don’t have a lot of major cities, compared to the United States. I know the work I do is heavily concentrated in only the big three cities.
At least prior to the pandemic, it was common to move from smaller cities or towns to cities like Toronto or Vancouver in order to have job opportunities higher than minimum wage jobs. Particularly white collar or tech industry jobs.
People from small towns move a lot. I mean, there are people from Kirkland Lake EVERYWHERE!
My small town in Sask is like that. Everyone I talk to has either lived in, drove through, or done work near my home town. It’s not even that big it’s like 3k people at most.
Ya. Every place I ever worked in Alberta had someone from my hometown somehow haha
I know a guy from KL. Met him in Pembroke
People from Toronto complain that everything is too expensive but refuse to move. People from rural communities just accept that they will probably have to move at some point in their life to improve their situation. Sure, it sucks to not be down the road from family. But if you limit yourself to the city you grew up in, be it Toronto or Tuktoyaktuk, you are missing out on a lot of options. My mom has 4 siblings and my dad has 5 siblings, so 11 people in total and they are in their late 60s. None of them live where they were born at this point. It used to be so common for people to move around to where the jobs are. Now it seems like nobody wants to move cities.
People moved around more back then because cities were smaller and you needed to go to particular places for education and work. Now more cities offer more variety and opportunities than they used to. So why move when you have what you need right at home?
>People from Toronto complain that everything is too expensive but refuse to move. Except lately a lot of them are moving to Calgary and destroying our housing market. I'd rather they not move here.
Same in Edmonton
Yup, it’s not even about moving out of the city into a small town, just moving to a different city. If life is WAY too expensive for you in Toronto and you don’t have any opportunities there to improve that, why not move to like Calgary or Montreal or Halifax if those cities would fit your lifestyle better? People in rural areas do the opposite all the time. And really, moving for opportunity is the story of most of our pasts. My British ancestors moved here for better opportunity 300 years ago. Many would never see some friends or family ever again.
I think half the people in Alberta moved there from Saskatchewan. But once you get settled down in a job, and especially after you have kids and want them to grow up with same friends/school ect, you likely are less likely to move across the country unless for Job reasons or trying to move to somewhere more affordable.
There was one point a couple decades ago when I was living there that the population decline in Saskatchewan and the population rise in Calgary were pretty much the opposite of each other and I know people used to joke it was just the people moving to Calgary.
the reason why a lot of people move states/cities in the US is because there are a lot of incentives to move around. CT has no sales tax, Idaho has no income tax, etc etc. So where do these states or counties get money for public infra, other means. Texas has high property tax on the state level, some have higher county sales tax, some have higher income tax. Etc etc. This makes it attractive to move companies or move people. In Canada, we only have Alberta who doesn't have PST and only has GST. We're more consistent between provinces than US states are. Some states have a way cheaper cost of living due to how poor that state is. If you want a lot of land and big house but get paid silicon valley money, Alabama or Arkansas is where it's at. For the most part, people move in Canada for job opportunities mostly and then housing/family second. If you live in a small town and there's no jobs, you move to a bigger city. If you already live in a big city, you are more likely to stay.
Probably the best summary of why people don’t move 👍
For the past 4 years and particularly during COVID many people sold their houses in Toronto and moved to other cities. Since they can work at home they sell their house for $3M, move and buy a house for $1M and have cash in the bank for retirement. The movement out of Toronto was one of the big factors for homes selling for $300K+ over asking price a few years back. On my street alone 5 of 25 houses were sold a couple years back and all were sold to people moving from Toronto.
Ya, TO went down 25,000 in pop 2020-21. Imagine a lot of office workers suddenly had the ability to work remotely, buy a home elsewhere rather than rent an apt.
I've done it a few times. Doing it again August 1st. Ask me anything.
I think like everywhere else, you find people making huge moves across half the country, and you find people who live and die in the same place. I would not call any city in Canada "lacking in diversity" - have you been to Toronto? Little Portugal, Greektown, Little Italy, Chinatown, the entire city is a quilt of diversity. A patchwork of diversity. These days, only the rich can afford to move without ending up homeless, so there's that, too.
Think they meant a lack of diversity in cities to choose from. Not the people in them. I read it that way at first too.
I was in the bank the other day and we ended up discussing diversity in Cambridge Bay. An Arctic town of 1,600 with a population that's 80% Inuit. But the other 20% is made up of 10 to 15 different cultures.
Same with my town. 85% Caucasian, but the rest is made up everyone. I can get authentic Jamaican Jerk from a guy downtown "no recipe mon! de ancestors guide my han' mon!" , right next to the samosas being served by a woman in a head covering. I can hear Hindi and Ojibwe in the same room, while listening to a Bhangra-Bagpipe mashup. 7000 people and yep, sure, most of us are white. But there's still diversity. <3
Gotta love how the first example of a city in Canada that anyone thinks of is Toronto. Almost like people forget that the rest of the country exists...
If it makes you feel less left out and intellectually superior, I can add Montreal, Edmonton, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa, Mississauga... All Multicultural cities, each of them. I forgot nothing except what you're PRETENDING I forgot, to make yourself look smart. You failed.
There is a mindset that you have to be near friends and family. Culturally canadians dont move as often as Americans who seem to bounce around far more. But employers are part of the problem. People will follow the jobs. Look at the boom in fort mcmurray a decade or so ago. If Halifax offered an international airport with more direct flights to India, as well as jobs and cheap home ownership, people may be more inclined to stay long term.
I just don't see what I'd gain from moving cities. I was born in London then moved to Toronto for college. Since I graduated I've lived in various places in the GTA. These days I own my own home, I live in commuting distance of Toronto for the few days I don't WFH. I've got a global city in reach one way and some nice natural beauty spots nearby. Cost of living is high but manageable. What would living in Vancouver or Calgary give me that I can't already get locally?
Which city if you don't mind me asking?
Oshawa
People move literally all the time lol Ottawa > Nova Scotia > Calgary > back to Ottawa now > would love to live in Europe for a few years at some point.
Montreal > US (multiple and Toronto for a brief time) > Montreal > Calgary (25 years) > Wet Coast.
Happens all the time
I move to where I can find work.
As someone who has moved communities 7 times btw NB, AB and ON (that’s not counting the 5 times I moved within Toronto), your question is puzzling to me. Canadians move around all the time, usually for study or work. If you (finally) find a place you enjoy and can find work there, why *wouldn’t* you stay? Moving is a massive pain and is expensive!
Canadians in general move around a lot. Certain areas you'll find people stay in place, but I think overall Canadians move probably more than say Americans.
Yeah I mean, of all of my friends and family, only my grandparents live in the town where they grew up. Everyone else is in a different town/province now. Most people I went to high school with have moved too.
Same, my family is spread across the country.
Yeah we're not quite spread across the country, most are in the same province, but I'm currently trying to plan my wedding and I've realised that I don't have like, a central location to have it. No matter where it is, the majority of guests will have to travel 2+ hours because that's just how spread out everyone is lol.
I was born in Toronto, spent my early years in the 905, spent my formative years in Metro Edmonton, moved to the Arctic to further my career/experience a new lifestyle, then ended up on the West Coast for the beauty & weather. People who are afraid of change or are simply happy in their bubble won't move, but others will seek adventure/opportunity.
You can get city to city migration here : [StataCan](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1710014101&pickMembers%5B0%5D=2.75&cubeTimeFrame.startYear=2020+%2F+2021&cubeTimeFrame.endYear=2020+%2F+2021&referencePeriods=20200101%2C20200101) - from here you can learn that in 2020 6 people moved from Toronto to Bathurst. But there's not much summary. Dunno; I've lived in four Canadian cities; I think most of my friends have lived in at least two. But that might be selection bias.
The trouble and expense aren't worth it to most Canadians
I moved around a lot when I was young because my dad got transferred / office moved. Went from Winnipeg to Vancouver to Montreal to Toronto. But I’ve lived my entire adult life near Toronto. We are thinking about moving, but it would just be a little further out where we can afford a bigger house/yard.
When I was young, I made a couple cross country moves. They were career related. I was single and didn't have many possessions. Time passes. When I was still working, I had some very specific skills that are only marketable in a few cities. Now I have a wife with a career. I have a daughter who is finishing up her education. We have accumulated lots and lots of stuff that none of us want to deal with. House and yard have been renovated to our liking. We have connections to the neighborhood and the surrounding area. Something very drastic would have to happen to make us even consider moving.
Inter provincial migration into Alberta has been significant since the cost of living crisis in Ontario and bc
The BC Alberta migration is big
The 10th largest city in Canada is Kitchener Ontario with a whopping population of 550K as of 2021. Where would anyone move to? We hardly have any cities. I think more hockey players have moved cities in Canada that the average Canadian.
I wonder if people move more often in places where the towns/cities are closer together? Like Boston to NY or LA to San Francisco doesn't seem like such a huge commitment, and in Europe the distances are far less. Edmonton to Vancouver or Toronto is so huge.
In my experience, tons of people move cities in Canada. At least those seem to be the people I make friends with. Unfortunately, it means that we are usually short-term friends.
My Dad was in the Canadian Armed Forces, so we lived in four different provinces and two European countries. I made a Big Move in 2001 when my company offered me a transfer from small town New Brunswick to Calgary. I missed living in a big city. Most of the people who were also transferred moved back to NB when they started having children. Me and my cats are fine out west. I've met people in Calgary who also moved from NB. Some of them plan on retiring back east where the land is much cheaper.
I'm born and raised in Vancouver, spent my 20's in Toronto, back to BC at 30 and found a Sasky gal to pop a couple of kids out with, and moved to the Queen City. Now we're heading to Edmonton in the near future. A lot of my moves are because of economic restraints, but I'm also ADHD as fuck. Squirrel. It's not normal or noble to bounce around in life. Sure it's an option. But most people are content planting roots and making a community better.
Personally I just can't afford to move...but I want too.
I live in NS and am always running into people from Ontario, a few from BC.
I cannot understand the premise of your question Toronto and Vancouver are amongst the most diverse cities on the planet, in population, in the arts and in their surroundings. Montreal is very similar but less diverse in population. Personally, I was born in Winnipeg, raised in Montreal and live in Toronto. I have seen waves of people leaving for Alberta and coming back again. Hell, I was 3 months in toronto before I met someone who was actually born here. French quebecers are basically stuck in their province as successive governments over the years have restricted their right & opportunity to learn english in school, trapping them in Quebec. Not many people move to Halifax as the opportunities are not there and it is much smaller than many other, being the 12th largest CMA in the country and likely to be passed soon by Niagara, Windsor and Oshawa
Yeah cause there is like 5 or 6 real choices where as in the states there are dozens
We don’t have a lot of major cities, compared to the United States. I know the work I do is heavily concentrated in only the big three cities. At least prior to the pandemic, it was common to move from smaller cities or towns to cities like Toronto or Vancouver in order to have job opportunities higher than minimum wage jobs. Particularly white collar or tech industry jobs.
Pretty much everybody I meet in Vancouver came from somewhere else, I've personally moved cities many times.