Brain drain: the 1990s vs today.

In the 1990s, worries about a “brain drain” to the United States peaked. Net emigration in 2025 (61,508) is close to the 1997 high in Statistics Canada’s series (62,803). Relative to population, emigration averaged 2.6 per 1,000 residents in 2021–2025, against 1.7 in the 1990s.

Data through Apr–Jun 2026Source Statistics CanadaUpdated quarterly

Net emigration per year

Emigrants minus returning emigrants plus net temporary emigration.

Period	Net emigration
1985	26,864
1986	30,232
1987	28,865
1988	24,534
1989	26,706
1990	25,011
1991	43,396
1992	48,721
1993	50,657
1994	55,682
1995	51,252
1996	49,841
1997	62,803
1998	57,842
1999	54,387
2000	57,109
2001	59,391
2002	45,682
2003	49,876
2004	55,085
2005	52,436
2006	47,890
2007	51,455
2008	52,678
2009	41,131
2010	42,187
2011	50,932
2012	50,426
2013	51,450
2014	54,956
2015	56,566
2016	56,772
2017	43,832
2018	37,915
2019	35,791
2020	19,235
2021	39,161
2022	58,570
2023	61,181
2024	60,349
2025	61,508

Source: Statistics Canada, Table 17-10-0040-01 Estimates of the components of international migration, quarterly. Estimation methods changed over time; compare broad levels rather than single years.

Measure	1990–1999 average	2021–2025 average
Emigrants per year	48,174	105,439
Returning emigrants per year	17,183	49,286
Net emigration per year	49,959	56,154
Emigrants per 1,000 residents	1.65	2.63
New permanent residents per year	220,433	438,582

About this data. Adapted from Statistics Canada. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product. Canada has no register of people who leave, so emigration figures are Statistics Canada estimates built from tax, benefit and foreign data; recent quarters are preliminary and are revised. These pages describe what happened, using official statistics. They do not predict policy, estimate anyone’s chances, or rank communities. See methods and definitions.