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

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Saskatchewan lures Albertans
4 h5 H+ v( L  a- @2 SMike Sadava, The Edmonton Journal
% i  L- Q/ T! s: e. dPublished: Friday, March 30, 2007
EDMONTON - Albertans are starting to be Saskatchewan-bound in growing numbers.
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, I6 @8 G" ]$ b1 A+ lFor 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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' b' @% f, r' O! l& pAccording 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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For years, between 2,000 and 4,000 Saskatchewan residents per quarter would head out to Alberta in search of the good life.

% C4 D5 X& I2 s9 h& YEven 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.

- S) K6 r1 u6 W) Z2 O: RStatistics 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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6 F* S1 E' g  z# D8 N4 xCam moved here eight years ago to take a course in architectural drafting.
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( M7 g* F0 S8 a/ j( k+ F* |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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After 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.

# i1 t5 P0 n: X$ Z$ f6 W% x"Because the economy is so much bigger in Saskatchewan now, there are jobs again," Crystal Hamilton said.
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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.
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"We're financially set now," she said. "It was perfect timing and turned out to be good idea in many ways."

3 J8 f& ~, L0 `She said they liked Edmonton, other than the traffic, and made a lot of friends here who they will miss.
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0 Y6 {8 j: O6 g7 d/ _9 d- n/ ~"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.

/ M2 M9 t% @* c! v! d( \"In the end you have to figure out your priorities, and for us it was not being on the hamster wheel," she said.
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While 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.

6 A7 v2 `1 p$ lRod, 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.
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"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?' "
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So far Delnea loves the city, finding her neighbours friendly and not missing the traffic of Calgary.
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7 w+ ?" t  g, J9 G$ K7 @! iFrank 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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"When you see there's a lot of people moving to a place, there's also a countercurrent back," Trovato said.
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There 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.
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! X( w# A( G+ O8 u"Not everyone who moves to a province is there permanently," Trovato said.

* Y5 P/ W5 I$ K# Z( Z: XTerry 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.

% z3 E" b, d# G6 ^( m: |"It seems that every time I pick up the phone it's either 780 or 403 (area codes)."

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.

msadava@thejournal.canwest.com

" @, K6 h; }! L; f( N6 s2 D6 w( Q! sAGAINST THE TIDE
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' Z: J& [  R2 i! Q' hNo. of people moving from Alberta to Saskatchewan: 2,838

No. of people moving from Saskatchewan to Alberta: 2,710
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4 X2 L( x: P0 N' HNet loss for Alberta: 128
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Net inflow of migrants to Alberta from the rest of Canada: 11,800

( B! r8 B, q# E9 V: a; d: B; jNet inflow of migrants in the fourth quarter 2005: 17,100

Population growth Alberta: 0.65 per cent
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Population growth for Sask.: 0.21 per cent

Population growth for all of Canada: 0.14 per cent
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Source: Statistics Canada figures for fourth quarter, 2006