Government of Nova Scotia, Canada

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For additional information relating to this article, please contact:

Thomas StorringDirector – Economics and Statistics
Tel: 902-424-2410Email: thomas.storring@novascotia.ca

February 01, 2021
MOBILITY OF IMMIGRANTS WITHIN CANADA: 2008-2018

Statistics Canada has released tables from the Longitudinal Immigration Database on the wages and location of immigrants who arrived in Canada from 2008-2018.  This data allows comparison of the number of immigrants who arrived in each province with their subsequent location, based on where they filed their income tax returns.  'Retention rate' in Statistics Canada's analysis refers to the proportion of tax filers that remained in their intended province of arrival, which can differ from their actual province of arrival.  

This data showed that the number of 2008-2018 immigrants who filed taxes in Nova Scotia 2018 was 82% of the total number of immigrants whose intended province of arrival was Nova Scotia.  This includes both immigrants that remained in Nova Scotia as well as those who moved to Nova Scotia after arriving in a different province.  The number of immigrant taxfilers was higher in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia over this period - implying that more immigrants moved to these provinces than left over that period.  Prince Edward Island reported the lowest portion of immigrants filing taxes in 2018.

Statistics Canada. Table 43-10-0017-01  Interprovincial migration of immigrant taxfilers, by admission year and tax year, for Canada and provincesTable 43-10-0018-01  Interprovincial migration of immigrant taxfilers, by pre-admission experience and tax year, for Canada and provinces



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