Alberta, once a province characterized by boomtown wildcatters and rig hands, is again luring tens of thousands of interprovincial migrants from across Canada.
But unlike previous migrations, the attraction of Alberta today is more multifaceted.
“In the past, what really drew people into Alberta was job opportunities, especially, of course, in the resources industries,” said Alicia Planincic, director of policy and economics at the Business Council of Alberta.
“But now what we’ve seen over the last couple of years is that it’s really more a story of housing affordability, and just overall lower cost of living that’s pulling folks from other provinces into Alberta,” said Planincic.
Millennials and mortgages
Alberta recorded the largest gain from interprovincial migration in the country in 2024, adding more than 36,000 people.
Alberta far outpaced the only other provinces to see gains. Nova Scotia recorded an increase of just 344 people, and New Brunswick 252.
Disproportionately, the people moving to Alberta are millennials and gen-Zers. From July 2023 to July 2024, people aged 25 to 29 were the highest source of interprovincial migration to Alberta, followed by those aged 30 to 34.
Unlike in Ontario, where average urban home prices push the $1 million mark, Alberta offers relatively accessible housing. Calgary and Edmonton’s real estate markets remain among the most accessible of any major Canadian city.
“The prices that we’ve seen here are one of the factors that are drawing particularly younger people here,” said Kevin McQuillan, a research fellow at the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy and professor emeritus at Western University’s sociology department.
In Alberta, the average home costs about $525,000. In Ontario, it is $860,000, with homes in the Greater Toronto Area averaging $1.07 million.
In 2024, one-third of all Ontario interprovincial emigrants moved to Alberta, making it by far the most popular destination for Ontarians, followed by B.C. and then Quebec.
The steady stream of young interprovincial migrants coming into Alberta helps explain the province’s relative economic strength and stability, says Joseph Marchand, a professor of economics at the University of Alberta.
“This is the group that buys houses,” said Marchand. “This is the group that has children, who are then raised here and become our future workers as well … every province would love to have that particular demographic.”
Between May 2023 and May 2024, Alberta created more than 66,000 private sector jobs, out of a total 200,000 new private sector jobs nationwide. This means the province accounted for one-third of Canada’s private sector job growth, while being home to about a tenth of its population.
Alberta is Calling
The Alberta government has actively encouraged people from other provinces to relocate to the province.
In particular, they have set their sights on skilled trades workers with an “Alberta is Calling” incentive campaign. Launched in 2022, the program offers a one-time refundable tax credit of $5,000 for new interprovincial migrants employed in the skilled trades.
Planincic acknowledges that relocation decisions are informed by a range of personal factors. But campaigns like “Alberta is Calling” can sway people who are on the fence about making the move.
“At the margins, I do think that these sorts of things can make a difference,” she said.
Marchand, of the University of Alberta, agrees that government policy can be an important consideration.
“The housing [cost] difference already existed [for] people in the Toronto area … They might be kind of passively searching for areas where they can buy a house while living in an area where they can’t buy a house,” he said.
“ And then maybe a [government incentive] is all it takes to get those people that are on the margins to make the move.”
Beyond oil
For decades, Alberta’s economy has been defined by its natural resource sector. While energy remains a critical industry, other sectors are seeing growth.
McQuillan pointed to an expansion in logistics as an economic driver. “We’ve seen just a huge growth in the development of warehousing, of transportation and storage,” he said.
Tech is another industry with potential. “ We’ve certainly seen growth in the technology area, a lot of startup companies — not huge yet, at this point, but a significant number of them,” he said.
Marchand attributes the growth of new industries to the economic legacy of Alberta’s energy sector. “It’s the energy jobs that helped [Alberta’s economy] diversify,” he said.
Planincic cited the residential construction industry as one especially hot area in Alberta’s economy. But she noted that Alberta’s population growth has less to do with the labour market than affordability challenges elsewhere.
“The big thing pulling people [to Alberta] is really housing affordability, and lower costs of living,” she said.
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