Canadians May Not Like the US But They DO Like Moving There

Spongers and their infantile mud-slinging will ... do that.

Whatever:

Canadians may hate the idea of U.S. statehood, but some still see the grass as greener across the border. The question is why, and a new study says the answer is more complicated than tax envy or better jobs.

The data tell a mixed story: More Canadians seem to be heading to the U.S. in recent years, even as long-term permanent migration has declined. Nearly 20,000 Canadians emigrated to the U.S. permanently in 2022, a 65 per cent increase from the year before, according to Statistics Canada. But the average number of native-born Canadian-born people granted permanent U.S. residence fell from 15,600 in the late 2000s to nearly 11,000 in the late 2010s.

A new study, “ Beyond the Borders: Unraveling Reasons for Canadians’ Relocation to the United States ,” by Neil Seeman, an associate professor at the University of Toronto, and Jack Mintz, president’s fellow at the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy, tries to explain why Canadians are choosing the U.S .

The researchers expected job opportunities to rank No. 1 but were surprised by what came in at No. 2.

“We had this surprise finding that health-care access and quality was a very close tie (to jobs),” said Seeman.

Polling 2,003 U.S.-based adult web users in August 2024 who were “observers” of Canadians who relocated to their U.S. state within the past three years, Seeman and Mintz found that access to better job opportunities was the most common driver at 27.7 per cent. Health-care quality and access, meanwhile, accounted for 25.6 per cent, while 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.”

Valerie Lacarte, senior policy analyst with the Migration Policy Institute in Washington, was surprised but cautioned that access versus quality of care should be considered.

Lacarte, who moved to Washington from Montreal after university for work, said she understands the draw. But she was perplexed by the notion of health care being a close second.

“It’s not really an apples-to-apples comparison,” Lacarte said. “Access is much broader in Canada, but if you have the right insurance in the U.S., care can be much faster.”

 Canadian migrants to the U.S., she said, are typically highly skilled and job-driven, with higher education and income levels than many other migrants. Because many come through employer-sponsored pathways, they are also more likely to have private health insurance.

Access to private insurance is key, she said. About 78 per cent of Canadian immigrants in the U.S. have private health coverage, compared with 69 per cent of U.S.-born citizens.

 

QED.

Once one has a good job, other things fall in place.