Moving away from work: inter-regional migration to Canada’s hinterlands

Over the past ten years, there has been a reversal of internal migration patterns in Canada and across the global north. After decades of population decline, many rural and peripheral places have been recast as desirable places to live, offering affordability, access to nature, a slower pace of life and ultimately, the ability to centre ‘life’ over work. This paper explores the role of work in migration flows to Northern Ontario and the Maritimes from other regions in Canada between 2016 and 2024. Drawing on interviews with 57 migrant households and 47 community leaders from receiving regions, we investigate how shifts in the understanding and organization of work were implicated decisions to migrate, the migration process, and experiences of work and life post-migration. While most migrants reported an improved relationship to work post-migration, some reported heightened employment precarity, social isolation or xenophobia. Moving to regions with cultures that de-emphasized work and that had a lower cost of living than their previous locale allowed many workers to reduce their paid work hours, shift to a less stressful job or passion project, or retire early. At the same time, limited employment opportunities in new locales alongside increasing costs heightened economic precarity, particularly for those working remotely. Histories of disinvestment therefore both created the possibility for and placed constraints on workers’ ability to transform their work lives.

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