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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
8 w* Q/ ?& v/ Q ^2 U- J6 p* x/ ~From Today's Edmonton Journal$ G# @9 _) U% S/ H/ L
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. - c |. g5 C0 g8 p- B
. ]3 o. c, @. Z* G- q7 x" IFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta.
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5 K0 d$ ^: v/ [' g, `- mThat means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. 0 h0 q# v3 v" O l% m) h
/ V: m5 {) z+ a6 Q) @1 yOnly 312 Canadians moved to Alberta in the first three months of the year and Alberta posted net losses in the two quarters before that.
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" g. ~: n$ W$ |2 W- r0 R t* cBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. ; I/ I8 z! V) g
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It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95.
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3 U. c9 r3 s1 KIt followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived.
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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. 3 g2 Z W# S W* V; X+ B: y
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“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
6 G R& {6 q" F9 {/ s“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. 6 }3 }' Q0 K. ?% g+ ~) q" J7 |& _" d
. d5 c5 h& t' h; ?- k. u“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.” 8 @: Q1 ^$ @+ r8 ]3 R9 a4 `+ Q
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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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That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births.
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$ ^6 e& A! n& r“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. & W. I/ U. U- A2 i) L" v
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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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7 L5 e O6 x2 w# d7 {" }“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. " g, i: x# v7 B h4 o& m
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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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