Couple relaxing on a luxury yacht enjoying drinks (image generated using AI)
Every year, thousands of the world’s wealthiest individuals pack up their fortunes and move across borders. According to the Henley Private Wealth Migration Report 2025 (1), an estimated 128,000 millionaires are expected to relocate globally this year — a record high and a clear sign that wealth is becoming more mobile.
For Canada, this growing wave of “wealth migration” presents both opportunity and risk. While our nation continues to attract high-net-worth (HNW) individuals — drawn to our country’s political stability, strong education system and universal healthcare — it also faces the threat of losing domestic millionaires, entrepreneurs, investors and executives seeking lower taxes, lighter regulation and sunnier climates.
The Henley report notes that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will lead global inflows in 2025, attracting an estimated 14,200 new millionaires. Other major gainers include Australia, the U.S., Singapore and Switzerland — nations that have fine-tuned their tax systems and investment immigration programs to appeal to mobile wealth.
Conversely, traditional powerhouses like the United Kingdom, China, India and Canada are expected to see wealth outflows. Analysts link these exits to political polarization, heavy tax burdens and concerns over domestic policy uncertainty.
Dr. Juerg Steffen, CEO of Henley & Partners, writes (2) that this shift is part of a “great wealth flight,” where “capital, talent, and influence are all being reallocated to countries that are deliberately building ecosystems to attract them.”
Canada has long marketed itself as a safe haven — a nation where wealth feels secure and infrastructure supports long-term investment. Yet, according to 2025 data, Canada slipped out of the top 10 list of best destinations for high-net worth individuals.
While Canada may still attract immigrant investors from Asia and the Middle East — primarily through business and student visas — the outflow of wealthy Canadians is quietly rising. Many cite high taxation, rising living costs and a cooling investment climate as factors prompting relocation.
As report author and Director of Economic Research and Statistics at the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Institute, Areef Suleman, wrote (3): “…wealth migration is not driven by the health of the global economy per se but jointly motivated by unfavourable conditions in source countries and favourable conditions in destination countries.”
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It may be tempting to dismiss millionaire migration as a niche problem. But as Suleman’s report highlights, these individuals disproportionately influence a country’s innovation ecosystem, real estate market and philanthropic landscape.
When wealthy individuals leave, they often take with them capital investment, high-paying jobs and tax revenue. In Canada, this can mean fewer start-ups launched, less venture capital deployed and reduced funding for charitable causes.
Conversely, when the wealthy arrive, they stimulate local economies through property purchases, service hiring and capital deployment. For cities like Vancouver and Toronto, the challenge is balancing that inflow against housing affordability and social equity.
Countries that are winning the wealth migration race — including Australia, the UAE, and Singapore — have done so by creating what Suleman calls “high-trust, low-friction wealth environments (4).” That means streamlined residency programs, strong property rights, and stable tax policies that encourage reinvestment.
“Alternative citizenships and residence rights have become an invaluable asset class in an international investor’s portfolio, providing a gateway to financial opportunity and a buffer against economic and geopolitical uncertainty,” explains Christian Kaelin, chairman of Henley & Partners (5). “They see residence and citizenship not as gatekeeping but as growth engines — as a way to attract the very people who will build their future economies.”
Canada’s challenge is that its regulatory complexity, slower immigration processing and high cost of living make it less competitive in this new landscape. At the same time, ongoing debates over wealth taxes and capital gains reform have injected uncertainty into long-term planning.
If Canada hopes to remain attractive to global and domestic wealth, experts say it must clarify its fiscal stance and embrace policies that reward entrepreneurship. That means incentivizing private investment, simplifying residency programs and supporting innovation hubs beyond major metros.
Failure to do so risks eroding the very capital base that sustains growth. As the Henley & Partners report highlights (6), even small annual outflows of HNWIs can have compounding impacts over time — reducing local reinvestment and talent retention.
For working Canadians, that could translate to slower job creation, reduced startup funding and lower tax flexibility for public services.
Canada’s economic story has always been tied to mobility — of people, of ideas and of opportunity. Yet as wealth itself becomes increasingly mobile, policymakers face a pivotal question: Will Canada be a destination for opportunity, or a departure point for ambition?
If the 2025 Henley report is any indication, nations that act boldly to retain and attract wealth will shape the next generation of prosperity. For Canada, the time to act is now.
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Henley Private Wealth Migration Report 2025 (1, 2, 6); Henley & Partners: Millionaires on the Move as Global Growth Stagnates (3, 4); Medium (5)
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