Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer
A black canvas with the words "Contemporary Kanata" written in white, a red bar below it with phrase "interdisciplinary approaches to canadian studies in it.

Articles

No. 2 (2024): Contemporary Kanata: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Canadian Studies

Internal Migration in the Canadian Prairies and British Columbia due to Climate Change

DOI
https://doi.org/10.25071/2564-4661.70
Submitted
May 6, 2025
Published
2025-05-13 — Updated on 2025-07-08
Versions

Abstract

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) predicts that by 2050 there will be 25 million to one billion persons forced to migrate due to climate change (Becklumb, 2010), yet there is a distinct lack of research on the ripple effect that climate disasters will cause in regard to internal migration throughout Canada. While Canada may become a refuge for global citizens experiencing climate induced displacement, Canadians could also be forced to migrate internally. This paper will analyze the effects of climate change in western Canada including the Canadian Prairies and British Columbia and will explore the impacts of climate migration. Due to the fact that the Canadian Prairies contain only 18% of the Canadian population (Statistics Canada, 2022) but have 80% of the country's farmland, small groups of the population are responsible for cultivating Canadian produce. With climate induced weather phenomena, this small population could be forced to move away from their farms and change their livelihoods to live in cities when their land becomes barren. For those without the comfort of financial capital, migration will be the only way they can adapt to the effects of the climate crisis (Dickson et. al., 2016). Provincial and Federal governments have currently not released adequate ac

References

  1. Association of BC Forest Professionals. (2015). Forest fires in British Columbia: how policies & practices lead to increased risk.
  2. Baynham, Maggie, & Stevens, Mark. (2013). Are we planning effectively for climate change? An evaluation of official community plans in British Columbia. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 57(4), 557-587.
  3. Becklumb, Penny. (2010). Climate change and forced migration Canada's role. Parliamentary Information and Research Service.
  4. Blair, Danny. (2010). Transportation: The prairie lifeline. In The New Normal: The Canadian Prairies in a Changing Climate, edited by David Sauchyn , Harry Diaz and Suren Kulshreshtha , pp. 157 – 70. Regina: The Canadian Prairie Research Center Press.
  5. Cox, Mercedes, Wendy C. Gardener, and Fraser Lauchlan H. (2015). A Survey-Based assessment of cattle producers' adaptation to climate change in British Columbia, Canada. Rangeland Ecology & Management, 68(2), 119-130.
  6. Diaz, Harry P., Surendra N. Kulshreshtha, David J. Sauchyn, and Surendra N. (Surendra Nath) Kulshreshtha. The New Normal the Canadian Prairies in a Changing Climate.: CPRC Press, 2010
  7. Dickson, Stephanie, Takaro, Tim, & Webber, Sophie (2016). Preparing BC for Climate Migration. Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
  8. Drolet, Julie L., & Sampson, Tiffany. (2016). Addressing climate change from a social development approach: Small cities and rural communities' adaptation and response to climate change in British Columbia, Canada. International Social Work, 60(1), 61-73.
  9. Gan, Thian Yew. (2000). Hydroclimatic trends and possible climatic warming in the Canadian Prairies. Water Resources Research, 34(11), 3009-3015.
  10. Government of British Columbia. (2022). Record investments to create clean economy of the future. BC Government News - Finance. https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2022FIN0007-000272
  11. Government of Canada Canada. (2015). Introduction - Prairies. Natural Resources Canada. https://naturalresources.canada.ca/maps-tools-andpublications/publications/climatechange-publications/chapter-7-prairies/introduction-prairies/10381
  12. Government of Canada. (2010, December). The Urban Heat Island Effect: Causes, Health Impacts and Mitigation Strategies. https://www.canada.ca/en/healthcanada/services/environmentalworkplace-health/reportspublications/climate-changehealth/climate-change-healthadaptation-bulletin-number-1-november-2009-revised-december-2010-healthcanada-2009.html
  13. Kraus, Dan. (2016). Why Canada's prairies are the world's most endangered ecosystem. NCC. https://www.natureconservancy.ca/en/blog/archive/grasslands-the-most.html
  14. McLeman, Robert A., & Ploeger, S. Kate. (2011). Soil and its influence on rural drought migration: insights from Depression-era Southwestern Saskatchewan, Canada. Population and Environment, 33(4), 304-332.
  15. Morrison, J. W. (2015). Crops. The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/crops
  16. Mortillaro, Nicole. (2019). Could Canada be a safe haven for climate refugees? I CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/canada-climate-refugees-1.5165029
  17. Podesta, John. (2019). The Climate Crisis, Migration, and Refugees. Brookings. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-climate-crisis-migration-and-refugees/
  18. Pojar, Jim. (2010). A New Climate for Conservation Nature, Carbon and Climate Change in British Columbia. David Suzuki Foundation.
  19. Prairie Regional Adaptation Collaborative. (2012). In Adaptation to Climate Change on the Canadian Prairies (pp. 1-24). Regina, SK.
  20. Statistics Canada. Table 17-10-0009-01 Population estimates, quarterly, 2022.
  21. Wood, Linda. S. (2019, July 16). Canada's domestic climate refugees. National Observer. https://www.nationalobserver.com/2019/07/16/opinion/canadas-domestic-climate-refugees