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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses6 ^0 ]3 s h" {6 |5 ]' L
From Today's Edmonton Journal
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" p& F' ]9 [! yMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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* I8 a5 v |2 d4 K7 d3 m5 oFrom 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. 0 q. e: S5 O4 J3 o+ S
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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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& S/ V6 U+ r$ ^Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. % @9 t2 e5 p0 v$ a, F9 Q; l! 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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, w( h% Z. x QIt followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived.
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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. ( q5 q- g5 g' i6 f' j- f8 h- J! X
. W( Q, J8 N W) N! G" {& ~“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. ( W$ a4 |) Z, a/ H$ [* P: A( C: n
“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.”
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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. : l) N; W% J! y& s
/ w6 M- ~+ r6 `/ }Statistics 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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That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. + y7 V+ z r3 d' A& R' c
' s+ i: j6 ]9 X) u& v3 ~6 |“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. 8 P! f( w R+ A5 f% ~1 ?+ p
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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. 6 c/ T) Z( _* q/ k! |' ^; L t
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“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. 4 }% ` u6 j, o$ y# p5 Q6 v
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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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