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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
% x$ G% I# O4 E3 W' D; m2 H& HFrom Today's Edmonton Journal
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" A X& w9 {* Z- ^Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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) V% ]+ U0 V7 M/ M: ?( {" pFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta.
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6 q6 W3 s# e$ |/ }7 Z/ Q& SThat means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. 7 f5 c2 ]5 {% r
) f/ n( y2 U( O' m- }# V, v8 }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. & [. I( M6 W" t& Q% `
. L0 c. `9 E q% A5 @# ?/ vBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces.
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' ^6 D9 O8 R/ R" d* wIt was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. ( Q2 d0 g3 e" c) R& l
6 N- T; ]3 B6 H9 g) E; L: wIt followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. # Q# w; Y4 v/ ?- {7 ^6 K
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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. - z ^, {! T, @/ P& _- }
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“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
0 W. Q! B8 H& L4 Q# M“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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9 L9 v! j1 g# Y0 J4 L+ P“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.” ; v% s% k: N6 \3 z' c1 }+ }7 S
" Y& G3 G5 o% C9 _3 \' v/ l6 e; qBut 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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6 m! @- |6 I6 y# i% WThat 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. 5 v J& k V/ V5 L' Z
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“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said.
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' M" i" M. u# |/ L- q5 VAs 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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