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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
+ W: R( O3 H1 x7 Z2 XFrom Today's Edmonton Journal
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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+ o! g- b( o- |7 B; p4 WFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. A6 Y0 _& }6 R0 A
7 Q, |1 r, w8 H2 b! Q" q2 }. \That means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. - U5 L- P" U" x K
0 j* y" [9 E$ g8 g$ n) D, D8 W% LOnly 312 Canadians moved to Alberta in the first three months of the year and Alberta posted net losses in the two quarters before that. 6 v# P t; g u/ a2 C: u
y" v# ]* u0 H. D( _Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces.
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# L% z& ~) D/ l$ ~% j4 QIt was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95.
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It followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. ! `! p6 q6 ~( n+ F7 i
6 ~' A& \! T4 G" iATB 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 l% ~( s+ j9 M2 k+ h“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. # h u6 C9 R4 x0 U
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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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.”
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A( e4 F$ S3 g# t1 e' 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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Statistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million. 7 t( p F) f* q8 Q& ~2 M
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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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“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. 2 \, f) |, e/ x
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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. " t- i0 K$ ~- Z& m
3 H; J: j4 Z( C6 N5 Y U b“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said.
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5 T9 _6 ?. E0 S: V7 OAs 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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