How much cross-movement is there between the biggest Canadian cities & big US cities?
 

How common is it for Torontonians, Montrealers, and Vancouverites to live and work, or stay for some time in the big American cities like the Bay Area, Houston, Chicago, NYC, LA, etc.? If so, which combos of migration paths are most common?

It's always been common among those with skills and talent in Canada to try and make it big stateside, and occasionally there's job seekers that go the other way.

It's interesting that from my experience with both American and Canadian friends familiar with both countries alike is that there seems like a big divide between people with experience in either countries' big cities and who see North America as one big pool of opportunity of places to go (eg. a Torontonian might mention working at Wall street at some point, or a Vancouverite who went down at made it in the Bay Area), and people for whom staying within the big cities on their side of the border is more of a thing and who "don't really consider" the other side when it comes to looking for a place to live/work, even if they enjoy visiting there.

I knew of French Canadians who vacationed or lived partially in the Miami/SE Florida area mostly in the Sunny Isles area but they have been replaced by Russians.

If we don't count retirees/snowbirds, and focus on people who move from Canada to the US for job opportunities, I think you'll find that there's no obvious city-to-city pairing. It's not like Vancouverites move to the Bay Area exclusively and Torontonians move to New York/Chicago.

A move to the US is not easy, not even for Canadians who can easily assimilate. For starters, most of the regions of the US with thriving economies that are looking for skilled workers are far away from Canada itself (the obvious exception being Seattle). Every Canadian I knew that moved to the US moved far away (again, excepting some Vancouverites that moved to Seattle), so they didn't gravitate to a specific city that was closest to them. They went where the jobs were and where the specific jobs in their industry were.

the tax situation seems too complicated. it seems stupid a foreign national would owe taxes to the home country based on work completed in and for another country. id love to live in toronto, but the work visa/tax situation doesnt seem worth the hassle. the best scenario i could come up with was just living in buffalo and drivng to toronto for fun, not quite the same thing.:( but im sure buffalo has its redeeming qualities too.

used to see quebec flags in the hollywood, fl area, even a montreal style bagel place.

It ain't no "city" but it often seems like about half my neighbors in a southern Arizona retirement area are Canadian and apparently so was a former owner of my house because I get Canadian tax forms mailed to me every year.

Auto tags in the parking lot of a local shopping center are often from Alberta and BC, sometimes Manitoba, occasionally Ontario (I also see a few from Maine--it's a long drive but . . . .).

It can be pretty difficult to immigrate to Canada without some crazy in-demand skill, which if you have, you can likely make more in the U.S.

Most Americans I know who live here have done so for family reasons.

I would imagine that a lot of younger Canadians move to places like NYC and Boston, which are both less than an 8 hour drive of the Canadian border. From an American perspective, it feels like I meet as many people who come to NYC from Vancouver as I do people who come from Toronto. It's rare to meet someone from Montreal, and those that I do meet are Anglophones.

I don't think many Americans move to Canada at all, but those that do are probably going to either Toronto or Vancouver.

As of 2016, the US was the 6th largest source country for immigrants to Canada, with 33,000 per year: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/dail.../t002b-eng.htm

(Not sure if that also includes the tens of thousands of refugees that have been crossing the border into Canada in the past few years as well)

So, I found this, and frankly, the #1 country that Americans emigrate to (not Canada) is surprising and amusing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emigra..._United_States

I wonder how many of the American immigrants to Mexico are first or second generation Mexican-American.

I'm pretty sure half the Province of Saskatchewan moves to Mesa, AZ every February. They've replaced the snowbirds from the Upper Midwest.

Anecdotally, there are lots of Canadians in New York. It’s like moving to NYC from Chicago because there isn’t a Canadian equivalent.

US tax law is a complete pain in the ass.

In the 1990s my father lived in the states, but worked in Canada, employed Canadians at his startups and would often travel to Toronto to meet with VCs.

Why is it surprising? Mexico has better weather and extremely cheap coastal options that do not exist here.

There are entire enclaves of Americans there.

I think there are a sizable number of Canadians working professional jobs in NYC. You'll see them in finance, law, consulting. Not unusual to come across Toronto alums, among others, but probably more common that they received graduate degree in U.S. and stayed.

Haven't met too many French Canadians in NYC. Maybe they go to Paris if they want intl. professional opportunities?

I know in Metro Detroit, a ton of nurses are Canadian. Michigan has a shortage of nurses and pay is multiples better so all the Detroit-area hospitals have Canadians.

The aliens from "3rd. Rock from the Sun" would agree with you !

• Video Link

:haha:

Canadians love to visit Arizona and escape the cold winter months in Canada to enjoy the beautiful warm weather in the valley of the sun. Over 1,000,000 Canadians visit Arizona every year spending $1 billion dollars. Canadian snowbirds own or rent over 100,000 properties in Arizona and spend an additional $1.4 billion dollars during an average 4 month stay bringing total Canadian tourism to $2.4 billion.

Canada to Arizona Statistics

Annual Canadian visitors to Arizona: 1, 082, 000
Dollars spent by Canadians in Arizona (2017): $2,400,000,000.
Weekly direct flights from Canada to Arizona: +200
Average days spent in AZ: 17
Average money spent per visit: 2,200
Arizona Real Estate Purchased by Canadians in Last 12 Months: $1,500,000,000
Arizona Properties Owned or Rented by Canadians: +100,000

https://www.canadatoarizona.com/info...ns-in-arizona/

Canada has for over a century suffered massive brain drain to the US. If you were involved in film/television you went to Los Angeles, those looking for a big powerful global city went to New York, while the majority of Canada's tech talent the last 40 years has gone to Silicon Valley upon graduation.

We still go for stints in the US in large numbers but I suspect we're experiencing gradual declines across the board as better opportunities materialize at home. The domestic film/television industry has never been stronger while tech clusters nationally are maturing. Even on the big city front we now have a metropolis of our own, Toronto. A significant number still go to New York but over the long term, as Toronto continues its rapid ascent, Canadians will see less of a need to do so.

What we may see going forward are minuscule numbers of Americans heading to Canada turn into a still small, but larger phenomenon than it was.