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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses1 a( o- f b5 p2 J" F
From Today's Edmonton Journal
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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" F% N" D! t9 [/ n3 q/ KFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta.
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7 ~3 j2 {) j1 [That means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta.
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Only 312 Canadians moved to Alberta in the first three months of the year and Alberta posted net losses in the two quarters before that. 5 r6 b9 n) C- P0 J! M5 H7 n4 I: ?
, f4 ~: U1 ^9 YBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. , B% G% k% K* j& ~
7 H ]2 m+ A( k6 ^8 J% HIt was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. 2 ?. r* | o) z! J$ e4 s- ~
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It followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived.
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9 G" Q; C1 M4 AATB 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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“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. 8 c( A/ g+ @' C- c; V( t
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. % e1 J/ M# e# R1 P( U6 l) T2 U' z
$ c- }& V5 Y+ h+ y“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.”
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( s1 w4 m; x0 G! }" e( o3 F) BBut he said a still-recovering job market in Alberta means a quick return to the pace of migration seen during the boom is unlikely.
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3 b5 ]; x5 K8 W* kStatistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million. @/ T" |2 S3 O; \/ d
) V! j9 N! x/ y& H, h5 fThat was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. 7 S$ l* B9 L0 ]: A
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“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. 1 R" g* X4 [' S( V, Z( v: @ y& [
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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.
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“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said.
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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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