The graph of migration patterns indicates the movement of people at two levels.

Interprovincial migration shows the movement of people between Quebec and other Canadian provinces. If the figure is positive, it refers to people moving from other Canadian provinces to settle in Quebec. A negative figure indicates the movement of people who have left Quebec to settle in other Canadian provinces.

International migration represents the movement of people between Quebec and foreign countries. A positive figure refers to people who come from outside the country to settle in Quebec. A negative figure refers to the movement of people who have left Quebec to settle abroad.

The balance of migration shows Quebec’s net migration. It takes into account two levels of migration – interprovincial and international. If the balance is positive, the province has benefited from a net increase in population, or in-migration. If the balance is negative, we can conclude that Quebec lost residents, or experienced net out-migration.

The quarterly data provided by the Conference Board of Canada is deseasonalized to eliminate the impact of seasonal variations and make it possible to compare data throughout the year.

This data is also annualized. Annualizing quarterly data (multiplying it by four) makes it possible to compare quarterly performance with the annual result.