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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
6 y+ b* n. L5 F5 Q. v- H: FFrom Today's Edmonton Journal0 f! P4 V3 a2 j E- q% u8 C
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Migration 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. 1 q; i% i! m! b0 ?$ Y' J
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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. % k/ }+ q. w! h3 C
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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. 5 M( ?+ O( g: Y, h
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Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. & } @' @6 l9 p* ~
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It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95.
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% ?! b$ I D. \& c' H2 P% V; hIt followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. * m/ s! V5 @) U+ p) T% M
e8 o% c$ V+ t/ r) J/ J0 XATB 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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. V" C5 M0 J) V! p“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. 5 P5 X! V/ i, I) P- u- q2 u% }: W
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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2 p- r: t' f0 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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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.
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* m/ N y! k/ F7 sThat was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. 2 M9 W6 q' R. o s2 V, F4 v
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“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. / {4 C% _: U8 ?! [7 f3 o
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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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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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