Where Will You Retire? Seniors' Migration within Canada and Implications for Policy

The migration of seniors within Canada is primarily a local, not a national phenomenon - in general, all communities need to be proactive in considering the implications of an aging population.Bien que la migration des aines au Canada soit un phenomene local plutot que national, toutes les municipalites doivent tenir compte des maintenant de l'incidence d'une population vieillissante et integrer cette perspective a leur planification et leurs politiques.SummaryRetirement often brings about major lifestyle changes that, for some households, result in a change of address. These moves can be motivated by a desire to downsize, to live in a more temperate climate, to be closer to family or to have access to specific services and amenities. Recent survey results indicate that as they prepare to retire, many baby boomers are considering relocating to another community or province. This could have important consequences for how communities, businesses and governments address population aging over the next several decades.Seniors' migration might entail important shifts in the population and tax base across jurisdictions, changes that could affect community dynamics, services, economic development and planning. If seniors are moving to areas with high concentrations of older residents, ensuring access to the necessary health, social and community services in these areas could pose challenges. At a broader policy level, there are also concerns that the migration of seniors may affect the age and income profiles of receiving and sending jurisdictions and increase social and economic disparities across the federation.Bruce Newbold and Tyler Meredith examine recent migration patterns among Canadian retirees, focusing on population and income flows across communities and provinces. Using micro data from the 2006 census, they find that only 5.2 percent of all seniors aged 60 and over moved across communities between 2001 and 2006. Migration between provinces was significantly lower, at 1.2 percent. Overall, they find that seniors' migration is not a major phenomenon in Canada, particularly when compared with the migration of younger, working-aged individuals, whose migration rates can be as much as three to four times higher, depending on age.While they conclude that the retirement decisions of seniors are not of immediate concern for federal and provincial governments, the authors see a different story at the local level. Focusing on the 20 communities where seniors' migration and income transfer flows were most significant, the authors note the sizable outflow of retirees from larger urban areas toward small and mediumsized communities, some of which are highly dependent on the migration of retirees to drive population and income growth. For these retirement destination communities - Parksville, Nanaimo and Penticton in British Columbia, and to a lesser extent Barrie, in Ontario - the longterm economic viability of ever greater concentrations of seniors need to be carefully considered.Notwithstanding the localized nature of seniors' migration patterns, all communities will need to contend with population aging and should be encouraged to proactively integrate aging into their policies, planning and economic development. Many jurisdictions are starting to do so under the banner of the World Health Organization's Age Friendly Cities project, although it is too early to tell what impact this will have.ResumeLa retraite s'accompagne souvent d'importants changements en termes de mode de vie, parfois meme de demenagements. On souhaitera par exemple vivre dans une maison plus petite ou sous un climat plus doux, se rapprocher des siens ou acceder a certains services et commodites. Selon de recents sondages, de nombreux baby-boomers envisagent ainsi de s'installer a leur retraite dans une autre municipalite, region ou province, ce qui pourrait avoir une forte incidence sur la facon dont les collectivites, les entreprises et les gouvernements traiteront le vieillissement de la population dans les decennies a venir. …