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

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Saskatchewan lures Albertans
1 G) Y# |" P! Y  p1 w& E5 QMike Sadava, The Edmonton Journal
3 J" a  r  Y( r# n& u$ EPublished: Friday, March 30, 2007
3 u. ?4 T8 m( g! {# i  MEDMONTON - Albertans are starting to be Saskatchewan-bound in growing numbers.

" ~+ b& R* w) F% U. Q/ y# r7 dFor 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.

! v5 e, ]- C$ |  h% F7 yAccording to Statistics Canada, 128 more Albertans moved one province east in the last three months of 2006.

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% v1 c4 t7 k1 t' w" C) ]$ Q"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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/ E* P8 ]/ V8 i  IFor 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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5 i* ^' r7 l5 R# Y+ Z% e3 PStatistics 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.

( l; F9 \- s) V8 S3 S! I2 h/ e3 WCam moved here eight years ago to take a course in architectural drafting.
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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.

/ x4 a" B* ]) d9 Q/ ]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.
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  S& w! I8 s% T4 }"Because the economy is so much bigger in Saskatchewan now, there are jobs again," Crystal Hamilton said.

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.

" C: J2 _+ W- i4 S"We're financially set now," she said. "It was perfect timing and turned out to be good idea in many ways."

! b; t' b% l+ p, |She said they liked Edmonton, other than the traffic, and made a lot of friends here who they will miss.
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"It was sad to move, but it's also good to be back."
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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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"In the end you have to figure out your priorities, and for us it was not being on the hamster wheel," she said.

; _; a' Y7 v/ ~: N! ?' IWhile 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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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.

"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?' "

  I9 Y% r- i5 y3 y2 D+ S, pSo far Delnea loves the city, finding her neighbours friendly and not missing the traffic of Calgary.


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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"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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: I% g9 S; }5 f! K1 c$ p! _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.

"Not everyone who moves to a province is there permanently," Trovato said.
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) f0 @" a2 \( s; Q/ Q* LTerry 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.
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msadava@thejournal.canwest.com

2 Q- x/ M# ~) K6 mAGAINST THE TIDE

No. of people moving from Alberta to Saskatchewan: 2,838

, g1 W0 B3 t; N6 f5 N( ?No. of people moving from Saskatchewan to Alberta: 2,710

Net loss for Alberta: 128
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Net inflow of migrants to Alberta from the rest of Canada: 11,800

Net inflow of migrants in the fourth quarter 2005: 17,100

# @$ y; z" K; P0 yPopulation growth Alberta: 0.65 per cent
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0 a5 z% p3 ~3 y0 O1 E  a( \Population growth for Sask.: 0.21 per cent

Population growth for all of Canada: 0.14 per cent

3 h0 {( U. v: w) XSource: Statistics Canada figures for fourth quarter, 2006