Canadian politicians chased immigration so much they completely missed the surge of citizens leaving. Statistics Canada (Stat Can) data shows emigration, the act of a citizen or permanent resident leaving for good, accelerated in Q4 2024. The move was part of a recent trend that saw the highest volume of Canadians fleeing the country since 1967.
Emigration is the opposite of immigration—the act of a permanent resident or citizen relocating outside of the country. People leave for a lot of reasons such as retirement, marriage, or career. It’s always going to be a component of a country’s population, so it’s not a big concern until it starts to climb at a fairly aggressive pace.
Canadian Emigration Ends Year With A 9-Year High For Q4
Canadians left the country for good at a much faster pace than usual. There were 24,533 emigrants in Q4 2024, up 3.0% compared to last year. It was the biggest fourth quarter since 2016, and 30% higher than 2019. This definitely escalated faster than the growth of the general population.
Canadians Left In The Highest Volume Since 1967
The annual volume of Canadian emigrants.
Source: Statistics Canada; Better Dwelling.
The quarter capped a year of surging emigration. Annual emigration hit 106,134 people in 2024, up 3.0% from the year before. Last year was also 17.3% higher than 2019, and marked the biggest year for exits going back to at least 1967—more than two generations ago.
It’s important to note this data is understated. Canada’s emigration numbers are dependent on people notifying the country of their permanent departure. If they don’t, the assumption is the person went on vacation—departures generally weren’t tracked until this year. This data issue also resulted in the country overestimating its population growth significantly for at least 40 years. Whoops.
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