Murray Edwards, one of Canada’s wealthiest people, is changing his residency from Calgary to London.

On Wednesday, Magellan Aerospace Corp., a Mississauga, Ont., aircraft manufacturer in which Edwards holds 74 per cent of the shares and acts as chairman, listed his residence as “London, United Kingdom,” in its annual information form filed with regulators.

Two sources familiar with the situation who asked not to be identified said Edwards is switching his residency to the U.K. for tax reasons.

Income taxes for high earners in Alberta increased dramatically over the past year with the top federal/provincial combined marginal rate rising from 40.25 per cent in 2015 to 48 per cent in 2016.

In order to be considered a non-resident by Canada for tax purposes, a person must routinely live in another country or show they don’t have significant residential ties to Canada. Stays in the country may be limited to fewer than 183 days a year. Leaving can result in “departure taxes,” where those giving up residency are deemed to have sold, at fair market value, most of their assets when they leave.

The finance andoil and gas magnate, who is also a part owner of the Calgary Flames and owns ski resorts through Resorts of the Canadian Rockies, didn’t immediately return a phone call or email asking for comment on Thursday.

Paige MacPherson, Alberta director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, said she doesn’t know of any specific other examples but she’s not surprised people are considering leaving Alberta given the “double whammy” of provincial and federal tax increases.

“This is the problem with levying taxes on high-income, high-skilled individuals,” she said.

“They are an extremely mobile tax base … studies show you often don’t get the return you’re expecting to get from levying higher taxes. In addition, it makes it more difficult for the province to attract those high-skilled workers, including people like CEOs and engineers.”

Catherine Brown, a law professor at the University of Calgary who specializes in taxes, said the U.K.’s top income tax rate is only a few per cent lower than Canada’s (45 versus 48 per cent) but there are big benefits there in terms of lower taxes on capital gains — profits earned from the appreciation of value on property such as a house or a company’s stock.

“The same people that came here shopping for attractive tax rates are going to be shopping somewhere else,” she said. “I think we’ve shot ourselves in the foot by taking away the Alberta advantage.”