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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
- U( n- d7 M( Y! u' ?From Today's Edmonton Journal9 t7 ~: ~& b) d
* k1 G$ e+ \* Q3 j4 BMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. 6 h G6 W, z0 W* s
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From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta.
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: p0 ~& U5 ~) Y4 B1 }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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Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. ' u7 w$ G+ {4 C. I* c+ W
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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. 8 G s) \! V0 B
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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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: u6 k. H( p; O/ T4 \, l1 N“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
% `0 B; W% A F; Y“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.” ; N% e) R" P/ W% @, B. F5 b! T
. B; b4 C" @ U5 ]: \& ^8 hBut 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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6 j0 j* q7 k9 G8 uStatistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million.
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; C4 f8 v% X8 g, E& o# KThat was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. 5 P/ {' ^0 d$ ^' L
; w z3 P: j/ L; ^0 e“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. ' n6 \* @* ]: F" w
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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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“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said.
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) @8 `6 Y. F9 S1 J* VAs 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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