06:52 AM EDT, 06/19/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Canadians continued to move around the country at the start of the year, but perhaps with less urgency, said Bank of Montreal (BMO).

According to the bank, here are a few highlights:

-- Net migration to Alberta remained strong at around 8,000 people seasonally adjusted in Q1, or 32,000 per year. A strong economy and favorable affordability remain draws.

-- Atlantic Canada's inward migration boom has all but

fizzled out. This had been a blessing (driving growth) and

a curse (infrastructure and housing stress) for the region,

but that appears to be normalizing.

-- Ontario is seeing fewer net outflows. Interestingly

enough, as international immigration caps set in -- which

will be felt disproportionately in Ontario -- it might lead to

less pressure for residents of Ontario to go elsewhere,

largely because of less stress now being applied to

housing affordability. Indeed, affordability was probably the biggest reason for the movement to Alberta and Atlantic

Canada, but with Ontario prices and rents down, the push

to migrate out might be running its course.