Migration up and down Canada’s urban hierarchy

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Résumé (français)

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Résumé (anglais)

According to the 2001 Census, nearly 80 percent of Canada’s population lived in an urban area. While the growth of Canada’s largest urban centers and megapolitan areas is largely given, there is relatively less information about population movement between levels of the urban hierarchy and the relationships between Canada’s metropolitan areas. The principal aim of this research is to evaluate the scale, extent, and direction of population movement up and down Canada’s urban hierarchy. Results reveal a large volume of inter-metropolitan migration, net movement out of Canada’s largest metropolitan areas of Montréal, Toronto and Vancouver, but continued movement up the urban hierarchy into other large urban centers via a largely stepwise pattern of migration. Migration across the urban-rural hierarchy is also age selective, with the largest and most effective flows into Canada’s large urban areas observed for the 20-29 age group, while older groups are somewhat more likely to move down the hierarchy. Results are also contrasted with American evidence based on the 2000 US census.