More people leaving Sask. than coming in from other provinces, but population still grows: Stats Can

More people are moving from Saskatchewan to other provinces than there are people from other provinces moving here, according to the latest data released by Statistics Canada — but the province's population still grew last year.

The data released Thursday, covering the last quarter of 2017, is reflective of what's happened with interprovincial migration during the last four years says an analyst with the agency.

"For every quarter since the second half of 2013, there were losses of people leaving Saskatchewan more than people moving in," said Claudine Provencher, an analyst with the demography division of Statistics Canada.

"The province of Saskatchewan is losing people to Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia," Provencher said, adding that's been the trend for at least the last two years. 

That includes people like William Zochinsky. He's lived in Regina for almost six years, but he's packing his bags and heading back to British Columbia.

It wasn't so much the economic downturn that drove his decision, but the nature of the province.

Zochinsky, who described himself as an environmentally oriented person, said Saskatchewan seemed behind B.C.

"The whole outlook here of, you know, what we need to do to basically survive as a species, there just doesn't seem to be any care here about it," he said. "It's all about, you know, oil, and nothing about renewable or recycling or any of that."

He initially moved to Regina to be closer to his daughter but she has since moved to B.C.

For him, the toughest part of leaving will likely be the people who remain behind. 

"I've made some great friends and that's going to be the hard part, is sort of leaving them," he said. "But everything else just doesn't compare, and you need certain aspects of your life to be comfortable and happy — and where you live is just a huge part of that."

According to Statistics Canada, more than 2,500 people from other provinces moved to Saskatchewan between October and December 2017. More than 4,300 people moved to other provinces during the same period.

Between October and December 2016, more than 2,700 people from other provinces moved to Saskatchewan while about 3,700 moved to different provinces. 

International migration grows population

Saskatchewan's overall population still grew in 2017. 

Furthermore, there were more babies born in Saskatchewan than there were people who died. 

"The fertility rate in Saskatchewan is among the highest in Canada, so that's why you have a natural increase that is fairly high," Provencher said. 

On Jan. 1, 2017, the province's population was 1.16 million people. A year later, the population was up to 1.17 million. The population grew by more than 13,000 people.

Premier Scott Moe has called population growth the province's top priority and said the goal is to reach 1.5 million residents by 2030.