British Columbia may be a beautiful place to live, but there’s also a lot of reasons to not live there. It seems like that’s what a number of B.C. residents are thinking because the province is currently leading the country in departure numbers.
But why is B.C. facing so much emigration?
CANADA’S RECORD-BREAKING NUMBERS
Before we get to B.C., it’s first important to talk about Canada as a whole. A recent Statistics Canada report shows that 106,134 people emigrated from the country in 2024, which absolutely shatters any records since 1967. 2025 is shaping up to be similar in numbers.
As for 2024, Ontario had the highest departures at 50,680. In second place was B.C., accounting for 18.5% of Canada’s emigrants.
Already, 54,530 people have left Canada in the first six months of 2025. That’s another record broken as it is the largest number of people ever recorded in a six-month time frame. B.C. is currently topping the charts, saying goodbye to the mountain views for greener pastures elsewhere.
B.C. EMIGRATION NUMBERS
12,017 B.C. residents have already left the province in 2025’s first six months. While that may not immediately appear as a huge number, it becomes more shocking when you see it against B.C.’s population. Although B.C. only counts for around 13.7% of Canada’s population, it had 22% of the country’s total emigration for the first half of 2025.
There are a number of reasons as to why British Columbians feel the need to leave the province. Some obvious ones are housing and general economic uncertainty that not just B.C. is facing, but the entirety of Canada. There’s also the job market to consider, as well as how expensive B.C. is to live in.
Living abroad may seem far more affordable when considering the average B.C. salary is merely the absolute average in the entire country. This is doubly so considering that two Metro Vancouver neighbourhoods were named amongst some of the most economically uncomfortable places to live in Canada.
As they say, the grass is always greener on the other side.
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