I couldn't find another thread that discussed this, so thought it would be most relevant to economic related factors and post it here.
Stats Can released the quarterly population estimates, and some really positive figures for BC. We know the economic news has been very good for some time (BC expected to be top growth leader in Canada for 2015, 2016, 2017), and that other provinces are struggling. It seems to definitely be translating into high migration figures.
BC had by far the highest interprovincial growth in Canada (net growth from movement between other provinces and BC). In fact, it was the highest growth since 1995 for the province. We were the only jurisdiction to gain population from everywhere else in Canada (we gained more people from each province and territory than we lost). Especially noticeable, we gained 2,316 from Alberta, the most since the early 90's. Below are the total net figures:
BC: +6,315
AB: +1,234
ON: +1,207
NL: -28
NWT: -33
NVT: -117
YK: -310
PEI: -354
NS: -593
SK: -639
NB: -1,107
MB: -1,937
QC: -3,638
Unlike international migration, which usually isn't tied to economic performance, interprovincial migration is very much dictated by current economic conditions (ie. Quebec has always received lots of immigration despite underwhelming economy for decades, and Ontario has always had a high number even when other provinces outperformed it). The fact that BC is so far ahead of 2nd place Alberta and Ontario (6,300 vs. 1,200 for them) says a lot. It really feels like the province is a clear leader right now in a lot of measures such as employment growth (highest in the country), retail growth, tourism, tech, and now population increase. I know obviously not everything is rosy, but we are definitely more than holding our own here in BC. Link to the full report below:
A blurb direct from the Stats Can press release:
"According to preliminary estimates, net interprovincial migration was positive in only three provinces: Ontario (+0.01%, or 1,200), Alberta (+0.03%, or 1,200) and British Columbia (+0.13%, or 6,300). For the latter two provinces, net migration changed a great deal between the third quarters of 2014 and 2015. Net interprovincial migration doubled in British Columbia (from +3,600 to +6,300)—the highest level since 1995. In Alberta, however, it was divided by more than six from the previous level (from +8,100 to +1,200)"
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/91-002-...015003-eng.pdf