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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses- x9 j1 V- R* _
From Today's Edmonton Journal
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7 X: o, k2 m" p5 F* QMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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3 ]0 @+ A9 [( }/ AFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. : K7 X2 I4 a9 m, X% x' V
8 W. d+ A* _& O0 n5 ?$ o4 RThat means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. ( N% z' C- o( W2 y
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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.
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' B' B" }( ~0 a8 q* K$ i7 LBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. ) L) ~! K# V9 {/ {
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It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. 1 W$ c+ V' X. a) V
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It followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. . j- A# l3 z6 T8 z5 M( {% S
: c; Y: j( ?8 [. q" dATB Financial economist Dan Sumner said interprovincial migration is one of the best measures of the relative economic and social health of a region. & ^% B, z3 O0 j9 {* |' t( h
6 `' V9 f- e' B6 @7 i8 F* |/ E i# i“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. 1 |% h; ]- c' F6 ~& [
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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1 k1 M: W: |( V“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.” ( w* F- f S. G; |4 B
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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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8 z0 A ^' k9 {Statistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million. & |1 I# ~/ V9 Z: o
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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.
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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. u- v' U: x3 r* z% c
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“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said.
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7 h/ Z% l5 o, a4 XAs 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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