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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
% q% M W) P8 O; X' o5 nFrom Today's Edmonton Journal* [ t0 w$ E k( U( w' T& b
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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5 ]; k! n% I0 t5 A! `) FFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. ; h1 z J% c$ ^; u$ K. [
& E o" b, A; ~4 cThat 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. & ^3 }8 X3 J) n* \
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Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. _5 c h6 _1 v- C9 J# c, f" m
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It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. 0 {# F4 \+ g+ \2 ]2 S5 I+ O1 k
5 q1 y, O9 y4 T2 W- E9 lIt 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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7 J' S5 |2 |: A/ d( n& J, d“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. ; K* B: ]' Z( J+ v. s# T
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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9 i) y) [0 G! y, x9 q" ^, k: B7 B“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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9 A' y% Y% x" D) [+ y- ?% `- D# EBut 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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f9 D/ Y9 i! }9 O' mStatistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million. 1 P; O; C7 @: Q6 z/ m" u* n2 `( P
3 u7 N* K3 }" o( O% aThat 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.
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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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; M% ?; l: \- G0 D0 T“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. 8 M7 r! ^7 e9 T0 i; N7 @: a; n
* c# y2 [, V" i% B3 wAs 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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