Moncton 
U-Haul has revealed the most popular Canadian cities and provinces for DIY movers after analyzing migration patterns from 2022.
Credit: U-Haul
U-Haul’s expansive network of more than 23,000 U-Haul truck- and trailer-sharing locations covers all 10 Canadian provinces and the 50 states of the U.S.A.
U-Haul has rated Canadian destinations by the net gain of one-way U-Haul trucks (i.e. moving vans ranging in size from 10 to 26 feet) arriving in a city versus departing from that city in a calendar year. The company says migration trends data is compiled from more than 2 million one-way truck-sharing transactions annually in Canada and the U.S. Neighboring cities in certain markets are packaged together for U-Haul migration trends purposes.
2022 U-Haul Growth Provinces
The rental company says New Brunswick is the province where most people who use U-Haul are moving to with arriving traffic accounting for 51.1% of all one-way U-Haul trucks coming and going from the province. Quebec, Ontario, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia round out the top five growth provinces list. British Columbia and Alberta ranked ninth and tenth respectively and witnessed more U-Haul trucks leaving than arriving. British Columbia ranked second in 2021 behind Alberta.
People moving to Alberta may not be using U-Haul’s services much compared to those moving to other provinces since U-Haul’s findings contradict Statistics Canada’s interprovincial migration report. Alberta topped the list for the 2022 third quarter (19285 net people gain) and had a net gain of 4850 in quarter one and 9857 in quarter two.
| Province (2021 ranking in parentheses)
| % of U-Haul traffic that was arriving in 2022 | YOY difference in arrivals: 2022 v. 2021 | YOY difference in departures: 2022 v. 2021 | |
| 1. | New Brunswick (10) | 51.1% | + 3% | – 9% |
| 2. | Quebec (5) | 50.2% | – 5% | – 7% |
| 3. | Ontario (3) | 50.1% | – 18% | – 19% |
| 4. | Prince Edward Island (7) | 51.9% | + 6% | – 7% |
| 5. | Nova Scotia (9) | 50.1% | – 6% | – 10% |
| 6. | Saskatchewan (4) | 49.9% | + 3% | + 5% |
| 7. | Manitoba (8) | 49.8% | – 3% | – 4% |
| 8. | Newfoundland (6) | 49% | – 15% | – 14% |
| 9. | British Columbia (2) | 49.8% | – 18% | – 16% |
| 10. | Alberta (1) | 49.5% | + 9% | + 13% |
2022 U-Haul Top 25 Canadian Growth Cities
Chatham, Ontario is the top growth city. Chatham is followed in the rankings by Trois Rivieres, Sarnia, Quebec City and Kelowna. Montreal which was unranked in 2021 saw a 25.8% year-over-year jump in one-way U-Haul truck arrivals in 2022 to place ninth on the list.
| 1. | Chatham, ON (13) |
| 2. | Trois Rivieres, QC |
| 3. | Sarnia, ON (16) |
| 4. | Quebec City, QC (4) |
| 5. | Kelowna, BC (6) |
| 6. | Sydney, NS |
| 7. | Greater Sudbury, ON (3) |
| 8. | Brantford, ON (17) |
| 9. | Montreal, QC |
| 10. | Chilliwack, BC |
| 11. | North Bay, ON (1) |
| 12. | St. Thomas, ON (14) |
| 13. | Belleville, ON (2) |
| 14. | Saint John, NB |
| 15. | Strathroy-Caradoc, ON |
| 16. | Camrose, AB |
| 17. | Nepean, ON |
| 18. | Sherbrooke, QC |
| 19. | Salmon Arm, BC |
| 20. | Saint-Hubert, QC |
| 21. | Penticton, BC (21) |
| 22. | Sault Ste. Marie, ON (12) |
| 23. | North Vancouver, BC (10) |
| 24. | Peterborough, ON (19) |
| 25. | Fredericton, NB |
U Haul says Chestermere, AB, Truro, NS, Prince George, BC Newmarket, ON and Delta, BC also saw significant incoming traffic. North Bay, Ont. was the top city in 2020 and 2021.
