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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses; z Y2 z( H7 F4 | S! `
From Today's Edmonton Journal/ Y% _5 O# H1 f, |/ J
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. 9 e3 @& v. S9 |" Y; C8 L0 G
0 `) b2 f$ A6 C) jFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta.
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That means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. - L( x3 [/ x g6 z) K5 S3 P
! c+ A( X, `, u9 Q8 F( _5 W: VOnly 312 Canadians moved to Alberta in the first three months of the year and Alberta posted net losses in the two quarters before that.
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Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. 9 ?4 @& \7 Z2 x X
Z6 l$ b4 ?4 ^. {1 ]) @It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95.
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It followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived.
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ATB Financial economist Dan Sumner said interprovincial migration is one of the best measures of the relative economic and social health of a region.
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$ F9 Q+ k: u! t0 _“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
# ]7 I: C5 ^+ m2 f“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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“During the mid-decade, unsustainably strong job prospects drove migrants to Alberta from all corners of the country, although this trend reversed course quickly during the recession.” # [- ?& ^8 b h. m* q2 X
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But he said a still-recovering job market in Alberta means a quick return to the pace of migration seen during the boom is unlikely. ' y: S! V0 S$ K# z+ X" s- {0 S
+ S/ @# V- P# E6 t k1 HStatistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million. 2 d0 v O% X% e; X" A
% F* L1 g4 I* H8 b5 xThat was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births.
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“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. ( \' B h, M5 W Z+ }
7 M; l) P% S5 L- ~1 ]/ [Sumner said the province’s strong natural increase was partly due to its population having the lowest median age at 35.8, compared to the national average of 39.7. 4 C0 ^4 i8 Y% N4 Y% e1 c" W
" o: }0 R. W1 ]“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said.
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) [ [7 _8 {+ _As of July 1, Canada’s population was estimated at 34.1 million, up 120,800 or 0.36 per cent from April 1. |
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