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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses% l, [9 X! ~% Q w6 o
From Today's Edmonton Journal
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# m* E2 f6 ?* u+ TMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. 5 {" d4 X8 Z+ W7 u
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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. # N9 j: v9 V/ |& P' N; k
. {+ z8 F# X( Z/ `6 b2 A% gOnly 312 Canadians moved to Alberta in the first three months of the year and Alberta posted net losses in the two quarters before that. 8 C- }2 v0 h7 D9 E9 @3 v
^' W0 z( V& N/ P" U4 r O6 hBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces.
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It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95.
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( y% i! _1 f; ]- m- ~4 w- h; QIt followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. , x6 e1 s0 u3 w8 e) `! _& l+ w
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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. 9 }' D1 N! U" n' E2 G% _" k
# }7 u6 c, X! ]& t& ?“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
0 O A: }! t* v q2 Z' K1 B“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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5 b( j1 b' s& N4 T7 f“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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: X; o, G" K3 {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. ( A! ^7 ?9 S) Q, q U
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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.
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% J* Z5 w6 ~& S6 ^0 HThat 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.
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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. ) J# p+ x7 g6 }- Y( a5 R/ g
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“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said.
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8 f9 ]" N9 w# A1 `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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