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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses$ `' O+ t0 ~' A9 u; c C& K- |3 B
From Today's Edmonton Journal r4 n1 `* W% l N0 ~) g$ H" @
: q* ?. J0 I9 e9 {+ S: C t: zMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. * s4 G( A4 M9 W) Y y" ]) i7 q$ `
: i! d+ c& _4 h' m+ }6 DFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta.
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8 R+ B. a" M( fThat 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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9 [5 F* A: _& 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: H" v! c: ?% c6 yBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. 9 r! J' e6 f0 M b. V" ?, S5 `2 G
( k2 T& g5 \! A4 X8 yIt was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. + O' [* m) z6 ? `) @
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It 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. . F* d4 C2 S$ }- p6 o
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“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
; d$ [0 i6 n6 g& K“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. / _# e5 U5 q/ a! s& `* g8 Z# T% \
2 B5 o& v1 D+ {4 f& 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.” f" n" j( t4 J
# o7 H8 q6 }* l- }, ]5 M- v) gBut he said a still-recovering job market in Alberta means a quick return to the pace of migration seen during the boom is unlikely. 1 g+ }+ n# g, \! [ c' t0 K
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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. ) Y$ N0 g% `$ K
& I; Q5 ?; r, a% pThat was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. ' t( G; }% ^/ T |, V
! g6 {8 F2 ?# k/ W2 q* L5 A& m“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency.
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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. 1 U: k" ?4 Q o& R5 T) s5 e9 C1 c
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“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said.
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3 u6 z: Z% p" |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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