ICYMI – Douglas Todd: The brain drain from B.C. — and Canada — is worsening

The more skilled, the more mobile and higher expectations:

…The best way to measure individuals’ standard of living is through overall gross domestic product, or GDP, per person. And on that score Williams has a disturbing message: “Canada had the second-weakest GDP per capita growth” out of the 38 well-off countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development in the period since 2014.

Western University economist Mike Moffat, a founder of the Missing Middle Initiative, is also concerned. Last year, Moffat says, a record-setting 120,000 Canadians moved out of the country, with 50 per cent of them between the ages of 25 and 45. The OECD estimates roughly half move to the U.S, followed by Britain and Australia.

These figures understate the exit phenomenon, Moffat said, because they exclude recent immigrants who leave, as well as “shadow emigration.” By that he’s referring to Canadians who typically keep filing Canadian tax returns and holding Canadian bank accounts while living elsewhere for years.

The worst thing is that the largest cohort leaving B.C. and Canada, according to Williams and Moffat, are educated and talented. They’re engineers, scientists, business specialists, health professionals and high-tech experts.

“One of the challenges for Canada is having a post-secondary education system subsidized by taxpayers and parents, only to see some of the best young people graduate and leave soon after for other countries,” Williams said.

“The loss of young, highly educated workers — often called the brain drain — is concerning because they tend to be net contributors to the tax base. That is, they pay more in taxes than they consume in public services.”

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that many are leaving Canada for the U.S., says Williams. He points to remarkable differences in Seattle, a global tech hub a three-hour drive south of Vancouver.

A highly skilled, recent graduate who aspires to earn a top salary will be heavily taxed in B.C., Williams said. “Once they earn above $261,000 Canadian, they will lose 53 per cent of every extra dollar in personal income tax. B.C. has the fourth-highest combined top personal income tax rate among the 60 U.S. states and Canadian provinces.”…

Source: Douglas Todd: The brain drain from B.C. — and Canada — is worsening