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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
8 K8 U* }% i6 lFrom Today's Edmonton Journal
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- C: Q. p/ F/ k# y# r( {5 \' Y5 OMigration 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.
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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.
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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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8 \6 V( H' d! o: V3 X9 B) _# _Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces.
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' r- _" i; [# S+ P' B( D5 P U7 K( jIt was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. 0 \- M; s+ R- J2 x
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It followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. 1 ]0 q6 j% k8 Z# \* h- H
( K! c1 }+ A% s' A( LATB Financial economist Dan Sumner said interprovincial migration is one of the best measures of the relative economic and social health of a region. - N1 k! F, i% z3 N& c# H Z. Q
4 I5 y# q4 Q6 }, r% T& P, V“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
& k4 a9 C% W$ ]: d s“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. ! y0 { ]$ u* ~ ]# s+ K a
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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.”
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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. " Z) M2 N$ }1 G+ @* v
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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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& {. l% j6 W2 \ n# {) }' w B“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. " R. h8 a8 @, U$ O$ f
- D9 m7 g8 }" I9 U: xSumner 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! _& H3 V8 ?+ Y
8 j6 q! L8 K; w. ^“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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