Gatineau seeing an influx of Ottawa residents moving across the river

Higher rents and mortgages have led to an influx of people moving from Ontario to Quebec and the biggest migration from Ottawa to Gatineau in 30 years.

Brent Charbonneau was once a renter in Ottawa. The expensive market forced his hand and a move to Gatineau.

“For me to find something in my price range, I’d probably have to move to Cornwall if I wanted to stay in Ontario,” says Charbonneau.

Charbonneau works for the federal government. His desire was to stay close to Ottawa, even if much of his work was from home.

“I expected to be working from home for a long time,” says Charbonneau. “I wanted a home large enough to have a home office. I also have a dog so a yard is great. I would never have been able to afford that anywhere nearby on the Ontario side.”

Gatineau Remax real estate agent Guyanne Caron says price is just one reason Ontario residents are buying on the Quebec side.

“Right now, 50 per cent of our clients are coming from Ottawa,” says Caron. “The city of Gatineau is bilingual. So, people can move here and still do everything in their first language, English.”

In 2021, the average price of a house in Ottawa was almost $650,000 compared to just over $400,000 in Gatineau. Renters could save about $500 per month for an equivalent apartment in Gatineau vs. Ottawa.

Charbonneau is worried that with prices so high in Ontario, he won’t ever be able to afford to move back to Ottawa.

“Now that my equity doesn’t grow as fast as a home in Ottawa, that gap is always going to exist,” says Charbonneau. “It’s always going to be a financial hurdle for me to move back.”

But as cheap as the current market is compared to Ottawa, Charbonneau says moving to Quebec has some downsides, including healthcare and taxes.

“It did end up costing me $7000 more than it would have in Ontario,” says Charbonneau about his taxes. “I would also advise that it’s probably going to take them a very long time to find a family doctor.”

Charbonneau has lived in Gatineau for 14 months and still cannot find a family doctor.

CMHC economist Lukas Jasmin-Tucci says with all the demand, he is already seeing the price gap between the two cities start to close.

“Prices in Gatineau are getting higher,” says Jasmin-Tucci. “All this additional demand puts upward pressure on prices. We’ve seen increases that we’ve never seen before. Close to 30 per cent.”