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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
1 s4 t2 [! T' w, w. S% MFrom Today's Edmonton Journal
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# d3 t# x# C, P8 C9 j+ I$ SMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. ; c1 @& Q& d+ Z* N; X
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From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. 3 x* r# Y$ _; u( T. ^2 ]$ [
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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.
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- W& A1 ~1 B+ o/ p$ v# y5 e! P8 }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.
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' k8 e$ z- y; l! n( A7 LBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces.
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( y2 g1 m( y* fIt was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. 2 I( F/ j/ s+ y# z7 _2 X
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It followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. 8 p; e7 O" \5 {; Q9 x! `
' c5 R5 d$ ?- B8 Q! P5 S# fATB 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. * l3 P; B3 @2 ^; m" D9 d
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. 9 ^9 `* H2 g2 e5 o# y8 {0 k
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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.” 0 w8 s+ \7 x% c( Q0 b! J
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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.
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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.
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That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births.
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# K2 R! q5 J" b; a8 b) M* ^“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. 4 h1 D- l g' ?- L( P# H5 O
7 r& X$ ~ l3 a0 W- dSumner 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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