Thompson Okanagan residents moving away to other provinces
Global News
The Thompson Okanagan saw a significant bump in the number of international arrivals, nearly half of whom were between 25 and 39 years old.
Thompson Okanagan residents are moving to other provinces for the first time in 21 years, according to the BC Check-Up: Live, an annual report by the Chartered Professional Accountants of B.C.
The study focuses on demographic and affordability trends across the province and found that Thompson Okanagan’s population was still on the rise, pegged at 657,450 on July 1, 2023, up by 13,299 from one year earlier. But changes were afoot.
“It was a bit of a different year in terms of where we were able to attract new residents from,” said Karen Christiansen, FCPA, FCA.
“(Last year) marked the first time we lost residents to other provinces in 21 years. At the same time, we saw a significant bump in the number of international arrivals, nearly half of whom were between 25 and 39 years old.”
For the year that ended July 1, 2023, the region welcomed 10,429 (net) new residents from other countries, up from just over 6,000 in 2022.
The Thompson Okanagan continued to attract residents from other parts of the province, as 6,179 British Columbians relocated to the region.
Conversely, the region experienced a net outflow of people leaving for other provinces, as interprovincial migration decreased population growth by 503 people. Natural growth (births minus mortalities) was also negative, reducing the population by 2,806 residents in 2023.
The average age in the region was 45.2 in 2023, up from 44.8 years old in 2018. People in the first half of their core working years (25- to 39-year-olds) narrowly outpaced seniors (aged 65 and older) as the fastest-growing age group since 2018. Seniors still made up 24.7 per cent of the population, compared with 22.9 per cent in 2018, accounting for the largest share of the population.