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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
' E8 ^2 {, b5 \6 vFrom Today's Edmonton Journal0 ~$ b$ f. s3 B0 s8 k, I6 j
! r4 |8 n7 t# y3 G9 Q, b& b3 H3 t$ G' IMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. : O6 P9 m! `% h6 z
9 k V. U( |# T# D+ TThat means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. 7 X4 O; O# J2 x. J
1 c5 G" `4 b. W+ `0 Y G' JOnly 312 Canadians moved to Alberta in the first three months of the year and Alberta posted net losses in the two quarters before that. % |7 u% h! p9 a# [. V* Q; H
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Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. / `3 R' [* K2 h9 ]
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It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95.
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6 W5 Z# y! Q6 Y* `* z/ ]. G& rIt followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived.
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, K# V! p8 j6 ~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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z' m! l" k5 s. j9 _! z“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
: u' i+ c) Y$ @1 c; j“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. " }! t8 A1 G7 D6 R4 Y. p
, l! g0 p' S9 X6 O“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.” 1 k+ u6 D9 X8 a. P7 r' f2 r( O% X
8 b% ^( W5 y* w+ pBut 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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Statistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million. 0 g. k; q) k: T
% V, V& p3 |) G8 v! U" M7 B/ E+ J0 pThat was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. % ~# |( U, K$ g' U1 N& M- F
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“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. : C* \- w( R; i# ]. v6 g4 A
w) Y$ ?; U& n5 g( r6 |( o3 bSumner 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. & x# \: [ A8 I: W n
% ]& v! z" J/ q/ E7 }* `4 iAs 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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