Running back to Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, Regina ...

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Saskatchewan lures Albertans
Mike Sadava, The Edmonton Journal
9 t% b6 p* H$ U* p- o; W) t( O  z1 C5 FPublished: Friday, March 30, 2007
. m/ K- S. C+ b  e$ W' }5 y! g4 EEDMONTON - Albertans are starting to be Saskatchewan-bound in growing numbers.
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! H+ Z/ b8 [0 O2 F; U+ ]$ d% K1 KFor the first time since 1996, more people are moving from Alberta to Saskatchewan than the other way around. It's part of a slight slowdown in Alberta's population growth, which is still increasing at four times the rest of the country.
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According to Statistics Canada, 128 more Albertans moved one province east in the last three months of 2006.
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"This is a good batch of numbers," said Roy Schneider, spokesman for Saskatchewan Industry and Resources. "We were bleeding so many people to Alberta for such a long time I'd be happy to see (a net increase from Alberta of) two.
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! e6 r( F0 G1 v% h7 @For years, between 2,000 and 4,000 Saskatchewan residents per quarter would head out to Alberta in search of the good life.

Even in the third quarter of 2006, Saskatchewan experienced a net loss of 994 people to Alberta, and the province launched an ad campaign, extolling the better life of Saskatchewan in billboards popping up around Edmonton.
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Statistics Canada hasn't tracked who these people are, but Crystal and Cam Hamilton, who moved back to Regina at the beginning of the year, might be typical.
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Cam moved here eight years ago to take a course in architectural drafting.
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; _+ \" Q2 Z; i- y/ Z+ q: _There were no jobs in Regina in his field, so he stayed in Edmonton to work. Crystal followed him here and they married, eventually buying a house in Lymburn in southwest Edmonton.
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" x! j5 n! L; R3 xAfter having their son Brady, who is now 11 months old, they decided it would be nice to be back in Regina with family, and that became possible.
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"Because the economy is so much bigger in Saskatchewan now, there are jobs again," Crystal Hamilton said.

% d1 v# M5 z" `5 _They ended up with a tidy nest egg from the move and managed to pay off their debts. The Edmonton house they bought two years ago for $157,000 got them $306,000, and they built a new, larger home in Regina for $190,000.

8 O4 ^5 p7 H- v& _2 |: B"We're financially set now," she said. "It was perfect timing and turned out to be good idea in many ways."

She said they liked Edmonton, other than the traffic, and made a lot of friends here who they will miss.
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) ]  x( d: V- E$ j  O"It was sad to move, but it's also good to be back."

Vicki Delnea and her husband Rod had similar reasons for moving to Regina from Calgary -- the difference in the cost of housing enabled them to pay off their mortgage.
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, Y, }  B% u8 X- i2 `. k3 m"In the end you have to figure out your priorities, and for us it was not being on the hamster wheel," she said.

. k5 x4 l* w; b1 hWhile she is from London, England, Rod was originally from Regina, and it will be great for her three-year-old, Joshua, to know his grandparents, she said.
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; {/ E( c/ D) v. y4 @Rod, who works in marketing, was able to keep his job and is working out of a home office, which saves him a 40-minute commute.

5 Y$ s# ]  [& z/ ^2 y1 S"Everybody thought we were crazy moving here because there is a stigma against Saskatchewan. When we told them Regina, they said: 'Why?' We said: 'Why not?' "

7 L) K4 f6 u5 r9 c2 ]So far Delnea loves the city, finding her neighbours friendly and not missing the traffic of Calgary.
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Frank Trovato, a demographer in the sociology department at the University of Alberta, said it's not surprising to see more people moving to Saskatchewan after such a long period of net outflow of people to Alberta.
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$ T% B% F3 n+ B# u  C/ h5 L"When you see there's a lot of people moving to a place, there's also a countercurrent back," Trovato said.

+ \+ p$ W1 B  U8 T: R) xThere are likely a number of factors at play, including the lower cost of housing and greater economic opportunities back in Saskatchewan, but there were probably a number of people who found that Edmonton didn't provide the opportunities they were hoping for, he said.

"Not everyone who moves to a province is there permanently," Trovato said.
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Terry Hincks, a Regina city councillor and realtor, said Albertans are buying a lot of homes in Regina, either as revenue property or to eventually be their place of residence.
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"It seems that every time I pick up the phone it's either 780 or 403 (area codes)."
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Real estate prices are still much lower than Edmonton -- $130,000 to $150,000 can still get you a decent three-bedroom home -- but are starting to rise. February set a new record in Regina, with 250 houses sold.

4 Z2 z, a6 I) w7 m* qmsadava@thejournal.canwest.com
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8 Q% L: A8 H% @3 v1 HAGAINST THE TIDE
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No. of people moving from Alberta to Saskatchewan: 2,838

/ o7 V( S3 G" Q$ I0 L: zNo. of people moving from Saskatchewan to Alberta: 2,710
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Net loss for Alberta: 128

) S6 b, }0 a( P3 {6 XNet inflow of migrants to Alberta from the rest of Canada: 11,800

8 w( j3 p% Y! `2 v* bNet inflow of migrants in the fourth quarter 2005: 17,100
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Population growth Alberta: 0.65 per cent

" r! v9 J) p* I7 i8 K: V; EPopulation growth for Sask.: 0.21 per cent
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Population growth for all of Canada: 0.14 per cent
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' D$ y4 j' x! F, l0 [Source: Statistics Canada figures for fourth quarter, 2006