Metropolitan Elderly Out-Migration in Canada, 1971-1976

Abstract

This article analyzes the 1971-1976 out-migration pattern of the Canadian male elderly from the 23 Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs). Migration is conceptualized within a three-level choice framework, and statistical inference is based on a logit model. The findings include that (1) retirement-oriented migration in Canada takes place long before the official retirement age; (2) compared with the young migrants, the elderly migrants are less likely to be metropolitanward and tend to have a more concentrated destination choice pattern; (3) with respect to metropolitanward elderly migrants from the CMAs, the probability of choosing a particular destination is negatively related to the logarithm of distance, cultural dissimilarity, coldness, and gross rent, and positively related to population size, brightness, and housing growth; and (4) compared with the young migrants, the elderly migrants are more sensitive to the environmental variables.