ARCHIVED – The Interprovincial Mobility of Immigrants in Canada

Immigrants landed under the Provincial Nominee Program

This section examines the mobility and retention of immigrants who landed in Canada from 2000 to 2006, and filed a tax return for the 2006 tax year. The province to which immigrants were originally nominated, their province of destination on landing and the province in which they filed their tax return in the 2006 tax year were used in the analysis presented in this section.

In light of the significant number of immigrants who were admitted into Canada under the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) since 2000 it was essential to examine the mobility patterns of the more recent cohort of PN immigrants.

Province of nomination vs. province of residence in the 2006 tax year

Highlights

Just under 20,000 of the tax filers found in the IMDB landed in Canada under the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) from 2000 to 2006 and filed a tax return for the 2006 tax year.  Of these, 67% were nominated by Manitoba, 14% were nominated by the Atlantic provinces, 8% were nominated by British Columbia, 6% were nominated by Saskatchewan and 5% were nominated by Alberta. IMDB data for the 2006 tax year reflected that 23% of PNP filers were found in provinces different from their original nominating province¹¹ in the 2006 tax year.

As reflected in the figure below, filers landed from 2000 to 2006 and nominated by the Atlantic provinces displayed a higher mobility than filers nominated in other provinces.

Figure 9: Provincial nominees found in nominating province vs. those found outside nominating province (2000 to 2006 landing years)

British Columbia (94%) and Alberta (93%) boasted the highest share of PNs staying within the province.

• The proportion of tax filers nominated and resident within Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the Atlantic provinces was found to be 84%, 80% and 49% respectively, in the 2006 tax year.
• In general, Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta were the provinces of choice for PNP movers (94% of PNP filers who moved were found in either Ontario, British Columbia or Alberta in the 2006 tax year).

Inflows vs. outflows of provincial nominees based on province of nomination

The analysis below examines PN outflows based on their province of nomination. The province where the PN filed their taxes in 2006 was used in determining their province of residence in 2006.

• In the 2006 tax year, one out of two Atlantic provinces nominated filers were found in other provinces, with 88% of these movers ending up in Ontario and British Columbia. Most of the PN filers who moved into the Atlantic region came from Manitoba (45).
  • Outflows (1,460) of PN filers nominated by the Atlantic region far outpaced inflows (55) of filers nominated by other provinces into the region.
• About 2,700 PN filers landed from 2000 to 2006 and nominated by Manitoba were found in other provinces in the 2006 tax year, with majority of these movers ending up in Ontario (955), British Columbia (825) and Alberta (730).
• Half of the PN filers nominated by Saskatchewan that moved (90) were found primarily in Alberta in the 2006 tax year. The other half were found primarily in British Columbia (45) and Ontario (40).
• Only 75 PN filers who were nominated by Alberta were found in other provinces in the 2006 tax year. Most of these movers were found in British Columbia (35) and Ontario (20). PN filer inflow (850) into Alberta from other provinces came primarily from filers nominated by Manitoba (730), leaving Alberta with a positive balance.
• 90 PN filers nominated by British Columbia filed their 2006 tax returns primarily in Ontario (35) and Alberta (30). Inflow of PN filers came mainly from Manitoba (825) and the Atlantic provinces (645).

As displayed in Figure 10, a relatively high proportion of PNs that were not found in their province of nomination in the 2006 tax year were found mostly in Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta.

Figure 10: Proportion of provincial nominees found outside their nominating province by province of nomination (2000 to 2006 landing years - 2006 tax year)

Province of destination vs. province of residence in the 2006 tax year

To enable comparison with other categories of immigrant filers in the IMDB, mobility of provincial nominees was also examined based on their province of original destination on landing. This means that a PN filer is counted as having moved to another province if the filer is found in a province other than the province he/she was originally destined for on landing in the 2006 tax year.

Highlights

Retention rates for PN filers differed based on their destination province on landing. Depending on the province PN filers were destined to, retention rates ranged from ranged from 65% to 94% (see Table 10).

The figure below shows that the Atlantic provinces lost a higher proportion of PNs in comparison to other provinces.

Figure 11: Provincial nominees found in destination province vs. those found outside destination province (2000 to 2006 landing years)

Comparison of PN filers’ province of original destination and province of residence in the 2006 tax year reflected a 16% shift.  In other words, under 3,000 PN filers were found in a province different from their original destination on landing in the 2006 tax year, with most relocating to British Columbia, Ontario and Alberta.

• The Atlantic provinces registered the lowest retention rates for PN filers found in the IMDB, with about 1 in 3 PN filers being found in a province other than their original destination province in the 2006 tax year.
• 900 PN filers nominated by other provinces were registered to have been destined to Ontario on landing and 70 were destined to Quebec.
• 12,365 of the PN filers found in the IMDB were originally destined for Manitoba on landing, in the 2006 tax year, 1,930 PN filers had out migrated from the province compared with 85 migrating into the province.
• 1,115 PN filers were destined to Saskatchewan on landing, and in the 2006 tax year, 150 of them were found in another province.
• Alberta lost just 70 of the 1,155 PN filers originally destined for the province to other provinces, and gained a significant number (780) of PN filers from other provinces.
• 2,150 PN filers were originally destined to British Columbia on landing, 125 were found residing in provinces different from their intended destination in the 2006 tax year and 1,075 PN filers left their original province of destination and flowed into the province.

Inflows vs. outflows of provincial nominees based on province of destination

• PN filers originally destined to the Atlantic provinces displayed higher outflow rates compared with PN filers destined for other provinces. PN filers destined for the Atlantic provinces on landing were found mostly in British Columbia (330), Ontario (305) and Alberta (50) by the 2006 tax year. Less than 100 PN filers originally destined for other provinces were found in the Atlantic provinces in 2006.
• Just under 2,000 PN filers originally destined for Manitoba, were found in Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta. Most of the 235 PN filers who flowed into the province came from Ontario (185).
• 150 PN filers originally destined for Saskatchewan ended up in other provinces, with half of them ending up in Alberta in 2006. Over half of the PN filers who moved into the province came from Manitoba and the Atlantic provinces.
• Alberta registered about 800 PN filers originally destined for other provinces flowing into Alberta in the 2006 tax year. Most of these filers flowed into Alberta from Manitoba.
• British Columbia led all the provinces in terms of net gain of PN filers. 1,075 PNs relocated from their original province of destination and filed their tax return in British Columbia in the 2006 tax year. Over half of those who moved in came from Manitoba and the Atlantic provinces. About half of the PN filers who moved out of the province were found in Ontario and Manitoba.

The chart below shows the share of movers by the province in which they were found in the 2006 tax year. Most filers found in a province different from their original destination province on landing were found in Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta.

Figure 12: Distribution of provincial nominees movers by province of destination (2000 to 2006 landing years - 2006 tax year)

Notes

11: Atlantic provinces were grouped together; hence, for the Atlantic provinces movers are defined as those would have been found in a province outside the Atlantic region in the 2006 tax year.

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