A recent migratory trend that hit its full stride last year with hordes of young people leaving Toronto for smaller, more-affordable Ontario cities appears to have spread well beyond urban centres, constricting the province as a whole while other parts of Canada explode.

Atlantic Canada in particular has seen a massive influx of new residents from Ontario since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and the steady flow of Canadians moving out east only appears to be getting stronger.

A new report from RBC Economics shows that a record number of Canadians moved to the region during the second quarter of 2021 — the most, in fact, since data collection began back in 1961.

Net interprovincial migration to Atlantic Canada during the first half of 2021 was in fact higher than the figures recorded for 2019 and 2020 combined.

"COVID-19 super-charged the migration of Canadians to Atlantic Canada," wrote RBC economist Carrie Freestone in the report, which outlines what's being described as "a regional renaissance."

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