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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses, d) F4 A. W: e% n+ X
From Today's Edmonton Journal# o8 @6 r* l7 U" S ~ a
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. . }5 j3 X. t/ }/ s2 ?; c
, g$ k4 K' W7 u$ L( t0 Z! C. ?( fFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta.
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% B+ l/ U2 m; B) L/ }3 \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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: j1 ?# T% Q5 @" S+ p3 X6 bOnly 312 Canadians moved to Alberta in the first three months of the year and Alberta posted net losses in the two quarters before that. 3 ^3 X7 R9 o) S0 _" P
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Between 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. $ U- ^( j& t# Y1 [$ n* t }
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It followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. 2 `( R+ l. u& @4 L# M. E3 k# }
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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. 6 M( Y0 J* { b
% H2 Z& C6 C7 ]4 `( s, c# f! \“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
& u9 W, U. `" x1 a( P. ~6 f“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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! [& T: G; h, o2 h$ |' n9 u+ N+ v“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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* j# X5 p0 o" S8 A- q; r6 tBut 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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9 s7 u& `' L; M5 oStatistics 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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1 [7 }) M. Y1 ?* sThat 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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5 s, c9 z D: p: [' V4 b$ h2 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.
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8 [3 ?; W9 D+ d! G' @8 G“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. ; _. m9 D8 T1 `: x4 r l% @
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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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