Nova Scotia has become the seventh province in Canada to have at least one million people calling it home.

According to Stats Canada and Canada’s population clock (real-time model), it appears The Maritime province crossed the threshold sometime between October 1, 2021 (when its population was estimated to be 998,832) and Christmas. The latest data suggests Nova Scotia is now home to some 1,000,812 lucky residents.

But blink and that could change.

According to LinkedIn’s inaugural Workforce Report for Canada, released back in June 2021, the urban areas in and around both Vancouver and Halifax had experienced the most internal migration gains (based on LinkedIn members who had relocated since the onset of COVID-19).

It seems COVID had people fleeing for the seaside provinces in droves. And the largest cities in said provinces have seen their fair share of action. In fact, Halifax’s metro area experienced a dramatic 39% increase in the inflow-outflow ratio of residents between April 2020 and May 2021. 

READ: We Found It: The ‘Bro-iest’ Condo in Canada (and It’s In Halifax)

And why not? The coastal city offers most, if not all, of the amenities one can expect to find in larger urban centres, not to mention easy access to the ocean, a (comparative) lack of traffic, and a level of affordability only dreamed of in other parts of the country.

According to the latest data from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), even though the province has seen incredible gains over the last 18 months, the average price of a home sold in Nova Scotia in November was $368,476. That not-too-hard-to-swallow average comes in despite a 20% rise in prices year-over-year.

In Halifax-Dartmouth, the average price of a residential home in November was still under the half a million dollar mark ($488K), making the move to the east coast pretty easy to justify for anyone with a one-bedroom condo in Toronto to ‘downsize’ from.

Case in point, the average one-bedroom condo in Toronto in November 2021 was selling for $745K. Here’s the updated kitchen in a renovated 5-bed, 2-bath in downtown Halifax for $780K:

Of course, the move to a smaller province isn’t without its getting-used-tos, and it’s certainly not for everyone. But for those who have spent the pandemic taking in their surroundings and not loving what they’ve seen, the East Coast certainly offers a change of pace and stretches of beauty that could help improve one’s mindset, wallet, and overall well-being.

But based on the province’s recent growth, many people already knew this.

So unless you want to suddenly find yourself priced out of the South Shore altogether, we suggest you start taking Nova Scotia seriously, and make a move while you still can.