Despite 51st state rhetoric, Canadians open to relocating for work, tax breaks and healthcare access: study
A new study from the University of Calgary also revealed interesting findings for why Canadians were leaving for the U.S.
Author: Quinn Patrick
While many Canadians are outraged by U.S. President Donald Trump’s rhetoric about making Canada the 51st state, a new study shows that many would still consider relocating south of the border for better economic opportunities and tax incentives.
According to Statistics Canada, nearly 20,000 Canadians emigrated to the U.S. permanently in 2022, marking a 65 per cent increase from the year before.
A new study from the University of Calgary also revealed interesting findings about why Canadians were leaving for the U.S. While better job opportunities ranked as the number one reason, what followed shocked the study authors.
“We had this surprise finding that health-care access and quality was a very close tie (to jobs),” Neil Seeman, an associate professor at the University of Toronto told the National Post.
Access to better job opportunities was the most common driver at 27.7 per cent, but health-care quality and access came in a close second at 25.6 per cent.
Meanwhile, tax consideration and business taxes came in at 10.1 and 4.3 per cent, respectively.
“It’s entirely appropriate to be obsessed with the brain drain … to the United States,” said Seeman. “But at the same time, we should be equally obsessed with understanding why Canadians are … moving for health-care reasons.”
For example, roughly 78 per cent of Canadian immigrants in the U.S. have private health coverage, compared with 69 per cent of U.S.-born citizens.
While the study found mixed results regarding the benefits of U.S. health care, a majority of Canadians living in the U.S. agreed that access to greater opportunities was their primary motivator, particularly among entrepreneurs.
Seeman noted that entrepreneurs “find it very, very difficult to conceive, hatch and sustain a business in Canada.”
However, those who do emigrate don’t necessarily always remain state-side long term, with the study finding that 38 per cent of Canadian relocators remain open to returning home.
“We’ve got a really exciting opportunity,” Seeman said, “to return to that era where Canada was a magnet, and Canada was a place that people came and stayed.”
He noted that improved health-care access and quality must be a top priority for the Carney government, however, in addition to more competitive tax structures.