What is New Brunswick’s Internal Migration Rate?: It Depends on the Data Source

In this paper, we compare estimates of population attraction and retention, or rather, internal migration, based on three datasets: the long-form Census of Canada, the Longitudinal Administrative Databank (LAD), and the Medicare Client Registry. We find that the administrative data sources (especially the LAD) produce much higher rates of internal migration than the Census, and that the Census and Medicare Client Registry are more closely aligned when it comes to estimating internal migration. We discuss the strengths and limitations of each approach and conclude with some recommendations for appropriate usage of all three files.