Where Are All the Canadian Millennials Moving to?
Hint: It’s Not the City of Toronto.
By: Diana Petramala and Dmytro Kharena
February 20, 2020
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We often hear about how the immigration of Millennials is boosting population and growth in Canada’s major cities, especially in Toronto. But, what’s going on with the more than 9 million Millennials already living in Canada? Where are they moving to and from within the country?
Millennials (defined here as those aged 23 to 38 as of mid-2019) are now the biggest demographic cohort in Canada. The majority of Millennials are finishing school, starting their careers and are at an age where they are leaving their parental home and entering the rental or homeownership markets.
So, where are they going? It looks like resident Millennials are giving up big cities like Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto for places with more affordable homeownership options like Ottawa, Simcoe County and Waterloo – to name just a few (see Map 1 and Figure 1a and b).