Thousands are still leaving Quebec for other provinces. Here's where they're going

Hilary Paige Smith lived in Montreal for three years and loved it.

The native of Saint John, N.B., livedin the city's Plateau neighbourhoodand took full advantageof restaurants and cafs a short walk from her apartment.

But when an opportunity to work remotely from her native province came along, she took it. Paige Smith says the Maritimes offered better options when it came tohousing, commutingand job opportunities in her first language, English.

"I'm from New Brunswick; my family is here, and if I were to settle down and have kids, I'd have support around me,"explained Paige Smith, a marketing specialist.

The 27-year-old is among thousands of young Quebec residents who opt to leave forelsewhere in Canada every year.

In fact, the province lost more than7,000 people a year to interprovincial migration between2011 and 2016, for a total of 36,955 residents, according to Statistics Canada data compiledby the Montreal-basedAssociation for Canadian Studies.

Between 2006 and 2011, by comparison, the net loss was 20,245.

The new figurescome as employers acrossthe province strugglewith a labour shortage caused by the bustling economy and shrinking labour pool.

The figuresdo not, however, include the current year.

Jack Jedwab, president of the Association for Canadian Studies,saidmost of the people leaving Quebec are between 25 and 34 years old an agewhen most are just starting their careers.

"It's an important group, relative to meeting our demographic challenge," he said.

And it's not, in fact, anglophonesleading the charge, as was the case a few decades ago when thousands of English-speakersflocked to Ontario.

In total,over the five-year period, the province had a net loss of:

• 15,440 allophones.
• 10,175anglophones.
• 9,225 francophones.

Ontario is the top target for relocation, followed by Alberta, British Columbia andNew Brunswick.

Jedwab maintains the primarydriverfor relocation is jobs.

He said quarterly results from the current year suggest people are still leaving the province at a significant rate.

Butthe economy isn't the only factor.

Like Paige Smith,Ronit Milo and her husband decided to move east for a betterquality of life and more manageable cost of living.

They moved to Dartmouth, N.S. last summer.

"Certainly, affordability of buying a house for us as a middle-class family was a big incentive ...combined with the fact that we have access to the ocean, and we're still in a city," she said.

Quebec Premier PhilippeCouillardsaid Tuesdayhe is optimistic that things will change.

"I'm sure that, given the fact that the economy is so much stronger now, we will see a progressive it will not happen overnight reversal of the trend."