Traditionally, newcomers have overwhelmingly chosen to settle in one of Canada’s three largest metropolises, Montreal, Vancouver, or Toronto. New statistics from Citizenship and Immigration Canada suggest that this trend is changing. The stream of new arrivals to these three cities is dropping off as Canada’s small and mid-sized urban areas are enjoying an immigration boom.

The change is largely due to shifting economic and employment prospects across the country and successful regional initiatives such as the Provincial Nomination Program and increased recruitment and retention efforts from smaller cities. Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s (CIC) has provided a guide to assist with this: Attracting and Retaining Immigrants: A Tool Box of Ideas for Smaller Centres .

“In very short periods of time, some of these areas which have really begun making efforts to try to recruit more immigrants are actually enjoying some success,” notes Jack Jedwab, executive director of the Association for Canadian Studies.

Though Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal continue to absorb 67 per cent of newcomers to Canada, each of their respective national shares of immigrants has dropped as immigrants have begun to appreciate the advantages of smaller cities.

In 2007, the number of immigrants who took up residence Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island was up by 73 per cent from the previous year. In Moncton, New Brunswick, that number was up by 31 per cent. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan saw a rise of 40 per cent, and the small community of Red Deer, Alberta received 93 per cent more newcomers in 2007 than the year before.

This influx of immigrants is very beneficial to small and mid-sized cities in terms of increasing the labour pool, raising the municipal tax base, and adding greater cultural diversification to the communities.