![\"0502](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/5e87715df4617cdcd25e1fa174c194c1.jpeg\")
Atlantic Canada\u2019s growth trend has been short-lived as it lost 1,203 young working-age residents in 2024, seemingly falling back in line with pre-COVID trends. (Credit: Mario Hagen\/stock.adobe.com) Atlantic Canada\u2019s growth trend has been short-lived as it lost 1,203 young working-age residents in 2024, seemingly falling back in line with pre-COVID trends. (Credit: Mario Hagen\/stock.adobe.com) <\/p>\n
The long-standing trend of young Canadians emigrating from Atlantic Canada has resumed after a brief hiatus and it could have a wide-ranging effect on the local economy.<\/p>\n
The region lost an average of 1,216 young working-age (aged 25 to 39) residents per year to provincial migration between 2001 and 2019, amounting to more than 11 per cent of that group, according to data<\/a> from Statistics Canada and the Fraser Institute.<\/p>\n It then gained an average of 3,152 such residents between 2020 and 2023 because the COVID-19 pandemic spurred an exodus of workers from Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver as remote work became more popular and workers were enticed by a cheaper cost of living.<\/p>\n Net migration out of Canada\u2019s three largest cities amounted to more than 143,000 people in 2021-2022, with an interprovincial net loss of 22,625.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, Atlantic Canada\u2019s growth trend has been short-lived as it lost 1,203 young working-age residents in 2024, seemingly falling back in line with pre-COVID trends.<\/p>\n \u201cThe study\u2019s findings underscore the need for policies that will generate the economic opportunities required to attract younger residents in the key 25-to-39 group,\u201d Fred McMahon, author of the report, said in a news release<\/a>. \u201cShould these numbers in the region continue to reflect its historical norm, it could mean negative implications for the economic future of Atlantic Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n The report said more young people leaving puts pressure on rural communities, which already tend to skew older, though the extent of the pressure depends on job prospects in other regions, namely the Alberta oil sector.<\/p>\n \u201cNonetheless, the consistent outflow of young working-age Canadians in all except a handful of years over the last half century should cause Atlantic leaders deep concerns about future demographics and lead to a serious assessment of policies that discourage young people from moving to the region and encourage an outflow,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n The region\u2019s provinces have taken several steps to attract and retain its top talent. For example, the Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP)<\/a> is a pathway for skilled foreign immigrants who want to live in any of the four provinces.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Atlantic provinces developed and promoted ambitious programs to attract immigrants that continued into 2024, including through the regional Atlantic Immigration Program,\u201d the report said. \u201cThis may have attracted international migrants who had already landed in the rest of Canada to relocate to Atlantic Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the Atlantic Chamber of Commerce called<\/a> the region\u2019s talent gap \u201creal and growing\u201d while pushing for better immigration pathways, recognizing out-of-province and international credentials and investments for settlement supports.<\/p>\n \u00a0Sign up here<\/a> to get Posthaste delivered straight to your inbox.<\/p>\n Canada recorded its first trade surplus in six months in March, as a surge in exports and a decrease in imports added up to a $1.8 billion surplus.<\/p>\n Overall, exports totalled $72.8 billion in the month, the most since January 2025.<\/p>\n An increase in metal exports had largely driven the growth, with precious metal exports up 37.7 per cent in March.<\/p>\n Economists warn, however, that the surplus may vanish if volatile oil prices drop in the near term.<\/p>\n Read more here.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem appears before senate committee on banking, commerce and the economy.<\/p>\n Privacy commissioner and provincial regulators from Quebec, British Columbia, and Alberta hold a news conference on the findings of their joint investigation into OpenAI\u2019s ChatGPT.<\/p>\n Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne to speak at Empire Club of Canada in Toronto.<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Data: U.S. ADP national employment report for April, U.S. global supply chain pressure index for April<\/p>\n Earnings: Novo Nordisk A\/S, The Walt Disney Co., Uber Technologies Inc., CVS Health Corp., DoorDash Inc., Apollo Global Management Inc., Warner Bros Discovery Inc., Cenovus Energy Inc., Sun Life Financial Inc., Restaurant Brands International Inc., Kraft Heinz Co.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Louise at 84 has $1.7 million in investments, far more than she will ever spend in her lifetime, yet she is concerned about asset allocation. Is she suffering from the Multimillionaire\u2019s Dilemma? Read Family Finance to find out<\/a><\/p>\n Interested in energy? The subscriber-only FP West: Energy Insider newsletter brings you exclusive reporting and in-depth analysis on\u00a0 one of the country\u2019s most important sectors. Sign up here.<\/a><\/p>\n Are you worried about having enough for retirement? Do you need to adjust your portfolio? Are you starting out or making a change and wondering how to build wealth? Are you trying to make ends meet? Drop us a line at\u00a0wealth@postmedia.com<\/a>\u00a0with your contact info and the gist of your problem and we\u2019ll find some experts to help you out while writing a Family Finance story about it (we\u2019ll keep your name out of it, of course).<\/p>\n McLister on mortgages <\/p>\n Want to learn more about mortgages? Mortgage strategist Robert McLister\u2019s Financial Post column <\/a>can help navigate the complex sector, from the latest trends to financing opportunities you won\u2019t want to miss. Plus check his mortgage rate page<\/a> for Canada\u2019s lowest national mortgage rates, updated daily.<\/p>\n Financial Post on YouTube <\/p>\n Visit the Financial Post\u2019s YouTube channel<\/a> for interviews with Canada\u2019s leading experts in business, economics, housing, the energy sector and more.<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Posthaste was written by Pamela Heaven<\/a> with additional reporting from Financial Post staff, The Canadian Press and Bloomberg.<\/p>\n Have a story idea, pitch, embargoed report, or a suggestion for this newsletter? Email us at\u00a0posthaste@postmedia.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don\u2019t miss the business news you need to know \u2014 add\u00a0financialpost.com<\/a>\u00a0to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Atlantic Canada\u2019s growth trend has been short-lived as it lost 1,203 young working-age residents in 2024, seemingly falling…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35261,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4550,739,17,1672,8524],"class_list":{"0":"post-35260","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-canada","8":"tag-atlantic","9":"tag-atlantic-canada","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-statistics-canada","12":"tag-young-canadians"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35260\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} <\/p>\n
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