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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
8 o7 W, }% [8 E1 q. l+ UFrom Today's Edmonton Journal' w$ e9 d8 z$ g" O+ q' A) x! E# I
2 ?' \2 z: A+ L" L( P$ N0 _4 |Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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8 `2 D# o* b5 ]7 a4 rFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. 7 `# ?' Z* y. S0 S, H" e
0 f3 v+ V6 n' U% N2 q, `0 k* G1 LThat means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. - |7 [7 s( Y5 h
; V3 M7 L0 J7 fOnly 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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5 W1 W. R F; j( Z* dBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. ' W: h8 C" u9 ~' k& J
# `; ?5 c$ P) Z3 wIt was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. % Q4 l |2 A# J, a1 j7 M+ ?
9 U4 ^ s' n# D) ^; J1 @It followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. ( D8 ?, x* } ]' B
+ E* @! J C* }- S) Z% p& U, yATB 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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' E: L( \1 J/ @* d“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
) {! @5 k; f* t: t1 b“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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. W. j: K. s" q( E3 F6 R“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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# S) A1 D) r6 G& y$ X* f S3 SBut 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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) I1 C6 A% I9 B( o/ P1 N2 b% H! AStatistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million. ' B) ^/ ^# u& L9 I
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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.
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$ \8 f! q* p" W“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said.
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. v$ X* d; A7 ~) f( T% EAs 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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