Statistics Canada reports that 54,530 Canadian citizens and permanent residents left the country in the first half of 2025, the highest January-to-June total on record.
The figure exceeds the previous high set in 2017 and puts 2025 on pace to surpass 2024’s full-year total of 106,134 to 118,000, itself the highest annual emigration since 1967.
Many cite high housing and living costs, with 79% pointing to housing affordability and 65% to inadequate income as key factors. Others mention difficulty finding suitable employment, especially immigrants who arrived with high expectations and soon discovered job mismatches or job scarcity. Issues such as harsh winter climate, social isolation, and challenges integrating into Canadian culture also play a role, particularly for some newcomers.
Ontario accounted for 25,604 departures, or 47 percent of the national total, followed by British Columbia with 12,017 and Alberta with 6,246. Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador recorded the lowest outflows.
The data tracks only citizens and permanent residents leaving permanently; it excludes non-permanent residents, whose exits rose 54 percent in the first quarter to 209,400 amid federal visa caps.
Canada’s population grew 0.05 percent in the first quarter to 41.55 million, the slowest pace since 1946 outside the pandemic, as immigration targets fell to 395,000 for 2025 from a planned 500,000.