 鲜花( 13)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
6 H' E1 W; H8 fFrom Today's Edmonton Journal
' {3 B+ h5 K, X' D, h |) |+ `1 c$ C9 Q7 q$ O; N" C ^
Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. ; }3 D! ]% D _7 T- d0 ]
7 ~( c2 |" O. j3 j% h, g
From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. 9 Y9 C; @& F* w* y2 w
) h- x$ p1 M2 E4 j! P
That means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta.
" p+ I' U* d y: ~4 s4 j r& E/ c1 ?2 O. b# m
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. ; J* g5 v# u8 c4 x# c- V. o
# _6 b9 c, f( ^+ MBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces.
0 [! Z3 J9 p0 W3 ]3 Z2 Q* Y. S
4 _7 {' m" s7 I3 zIt was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. / H) d# R! f7 i: a E8 e, U" W
\( g+ A V, GIt followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived.
- o8 R* f2 p. ~) o- R4 N
3 g7 h2 l8 i- k( bATB Financial economist Dan Sumner said interprovincial migration is one of the best measures of the relative economic and social health of a region. 4 Y9 I5 a; m* y( |$ V
0 i1 I1 n( b2 Q% u9 [“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. 1 n! Z6 l6 A! f1 ^* E6 s2 m% c4 c
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. 1 H' e& L+ _/ ~, L
! Q b$ J0 J; a“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.” : z9 {5 R' i0 w+ s
( N! L/ C e/ l; e! z6 n- W* k2 [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. 9 q9 t( D2 ~4 | w# C
! V" R. f- a% N1 c0 a/ UStatistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million. ( _4 i/ L2 Y/ ^' h8 U
" q O# n5 L! U7 P
That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. , V" t" Z* i2 q- B; o
+ I0 J& _- N2 t4 V/ v) u7 g6 d
“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency.
9 v y3 [/ b& w6 E! _1 }* e2 }2 g: }3 I( k1 s4 v0 M
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.
2 {8 C2 T% U5 A ^- {' B. A, |! ^8 L
“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. # t! h3 r$ A3 l5 a- \
* h5 K5 [2 ^+ ?. Q* ~
As of July 1, Canada’s population was estimated at 34.1 million, up 120,800 or 0.36 per cent from April 1. |
|