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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
4 o1 A5 s# v. Y2 F) v6 v o; xFrom Today's Edmonton Journal4 H+ N. b! F$ c0 L8 J- P/ @* Q" w# d
6 D6 |6 w0 v1 uMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. " ^* p7 c0 U2 q1 G4 r
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That means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. / b5 U+ b. D9 F8 i; A3 m
" m: M& d4 ^/ [' N9 uOnly 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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. Y$ f1 }/ J* K/ oBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. # b, Y. y5 d# J3 e) ~
' F4 c+ p+ ^; \) OIt was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95.
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# w/ C5 t6 @2 O) a1 J" t- KIt followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. 1 P3 L, V/ Y0 v3 T/ n. Q
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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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“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
{2 K9 L" Y( r“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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% ^2 ^9 I# H0 _. j: W“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.” ) Y; a" s5 R! f* E. |: I5 d
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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. ( j; P4 t. K9 N
* n2 h" |& K, |7 D! Y4 K) s$ C2 _Statistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million. # s7 ^ z6 t. F9 h
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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. 8 l+ p6 w1 `7 J l: C
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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. % v$ C/ q1 I1 x$ S1 j
3 U: R: P9 F6 K, k, b# g* u% |“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said.
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As 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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