Urbanites Flock to Atlantic Canada as Pandemic Blunts Cities’ Appeal

As housing prices soar in big cities, the country’s eastern provinces are experiencing a surge in migration. Newcomers are being welcomed, but some locals are wary.

BONAVISTA, Newfoundland — Only a few years ago in Bonavista, a small and sleepy windswept fishing town in Newfoundland, dozens of pastel-colored heritage homes facing the sea sat dilapidated and empty.

The collapse of the cod industry had pushed about 1,000 residents to seek their fortunes in places like Texas, New York and oil-rich Alberta, about 4,000 miles away.

These days, however, so many migrants are arriving from across Canada — mostly young professionals from big cities like Toronto — that some local developers have a three-year waiting list for home buyers.