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Or sign-in if you have an account.Photo by StockPhotoPro/AdobeEvery July 1, we surrender to the anesthesia of rituals: a stylized maple-leaf exceptionalism, a collective sigh of relief that our society has escaped the perceived vulgarities of the American experiment, and a nod to a social safety net romanticized as our secular covenant. Gazing at the flag, we repeat a self-congratulatory narrative about a kinder, gentler nation.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorYet a discordant storyline buzzes amongst us and even among Americans, operating entirely outside our national mythology: many Canadians are relocating south for better health care, not just economic opportunity and lower taxes. Seriously?This newsletter from NP Comment tackles the topics you care about. (Subscriber-exclusive edition on Fridays)By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againFor decades, Canadian economists conceptualized emigration as a math problem solved by income differentials. Policymakers posited that those packing moving trucks to the much bigger U.S. always chased a higher salary, a higher-status job or lower taxes. We comforted ourselves believing our departing talent whispered prayers of gratitude for the beatified system left behind.The data unmasks a less pious reality.In our new study published by the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy on Thursday, we found that the desire for better health care represents a primary driver of emigration, running a remarkably close second to employment opportunities. Looking past official administrative statistics, which log who enters the country but collect nothing on why our fellow citizens leave, traditional demographic assumptions collapse under empirical scrutiny.To bypass administrative blind spots and eschew the post-decision rationalization common in direct emigrant self-reports, our research harnessed a sampling frame of proxy U.S.-based observers. We surveyed a representative sample of over 4,100 Americans regarding Canadians who moved to their specific state during the prior three years. While an observer-based framework possesses inherent limitations, it secured a real-time window into the professional networks where these migration choices occur.Among the 2,170 relocator-aware respondents, job opportunities represent the primary driver at 27.7 per cent. Health-care demands follow immediately, accounting for 25.6 per cent of observed migrations through the paired pressures of system access and medical quality. Taxes were third-most important at 14.5 per cent. In a recent Statistics Canada study of the 2021 census, almost 70 per cent of our emigrants carry with them their university diplomas. If the social safety net itself has transformed from the reason citizens stay into a primary catalyst for their departure, what institutional anchor remains to hold Canadians here?Because this study tracks the accounts of observers, age dynamics require careful qualification. We cannot definitively map the exact age of the actual Canadian emigrants, but we validated a sociological pattern that transcends the age of the observers themselves.Specifically, health-care concerns surface prominently among younger observer cohorts, shattering the cliché that wait times only worry seniors. Among observers aged 18 to 34, health care emerged as a top-tier driver, second only to job opportunities. This exposes a profound generational crisis: when younger adults in major Canadian hubs are already crushed by high housing costs, youth unemployment and stagnant wages, the out-of-pocket expenses for medical services excluded from provincial plans become a breaking point.With a chronic shortage of family doctors and expanding wait times, many of these individuals understandably pivot when corporate America offers robust, employer-sponsored medical coverage alongside a job contract.This collective perception of those who relocate to the U.S. manifests as a word-of-mouth anti-marketing campaign against Canadian institutional capability. This negative “vibe,” which should stir a wake-up call in Ottawa, actively shapes the grapevine conversation among young professionals in the United States, dictating whether they view Canada as a viable country in which to build a secure life.The hard macroeconomics justify their skepticism. Over the last decade, Canada and the United States underwent a severe economic divergence.Between 2014 and 2024, Canada’s real GDP per capita grew by an anemic 0.4 per cent annually, marking the third-lowest growth rate among 38 advanced OECD nations. The U.S. expanded at nearly five times that pace. In 2014, Canada’s GDP per capita sat at 83.1 per cent of the American level; today, that figure is 71.4 per cent.This precipitous decline demands immediate policy corrections.Provincial leaders must halt treating emigration as a demographic edge case. We should benchmark individual Canadian provinces directly against high-growth U.S. jurisdictions instead of hiding behind national averages. We require targeted statutory reforms focused on competitive tax structures and health care access improvements. Finally, because 38.5 per cent of observers report that the relocators intend (if they can) to return, Canada should establish concrete return-migration incentives to recapture this squandered human capital.The grapevine we discovered delivers a warning, but it also presents an open door. Many of our expatriates crave a reason to return. By vindicating our institutional capability in the face of U.S. skepticism and aligning it with our national ideals, Canada can reclaim its halcyon position as a global magnet for talent, ensuring our best minds build their futures right here at home.National PostJack Mintz is the president’s fellow at the University of Calgary School of Public Policy, and Neil Seeman is a senior fellow and associate professor in the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. They are co-authors of Beyond the Borders: Unraveling Reasons for Canadians’ Relocation to the United States, published by the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy on July 2. Join the Conversation This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.