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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
4 }) |, i W% PFrom Today's Edmonton Journal7 ?7 k7 \( c- h
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. $ J0 u4 {% U. Y W) V' q6 v* ~
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From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. ' U& t8 O! R3 B; c
* G. j. Z; i0 H: D6 s; ^That means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta.
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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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6 S% b- [8 u7 n8 ^Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. " b v: ^. D$ H J V, M+ S
+ \% t8 @% a8 J- R9 Y7 F; |It 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.
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+ _* f5 t4 }3 n3 VATB Financial economist Dan Sumner said interprovincial migration is one of the best measures of the relative economic and social health of a region. 2 e, I" m Z' D: |* Z5 s$ [ F* l
! D8 h" p; \5 c$ z“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. . _, B% L' F1 a4 a+ z4 p" E7 ^
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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4 b8 E7 x/ q; c( c“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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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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Statistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million. 2 k _ L6 ^9 j
! L+ ~. [9 y/ W& XThat was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births.
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) Y, P: \+ a2 [5 T“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. ( Y! v P6 K! w; |& I8 Z
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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. l; {; D Z7 k5 ~1 s( U
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“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. 3 q4 b% {; u/ q$ ?' v
7 Y0 k& ~, a' Z/ M. R' @% G6 AAs 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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