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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
. K$ \8 N/ b9 ~0 c: P0 {From Today's Edmonton Journal
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. , V7 I' l* b `2 p. H; U6 {: k
1 S) p6 [5 j3 Y; YFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta.
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That 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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' n7 l3 [6 [; y% d4 e3 qOnly 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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Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces.
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It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. : L( s& i; f) F! a
/ E. K6 w8 \1 G/ [! H9 \' y0 VIt followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. ; `# g8 r) T; U' w
, V& b( {1 e M, r/ p% IATB Financial economist Dan Sumner said interprovincial migration is one of the best measures of the relative economic and social health of a region. 5 X% x# f! a4 ]
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“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
, u" J7 I9 @5 y. e& G) e8 a* d“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. 4 z3 R+ u7 y' ?" d3 V1 y, t
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“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 U: U7 H" u q) s( d; h" V: P
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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. : f( u, z" i9 H% J2 y
+ E0 o# K" U& W" x* kStatistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million. 9 l4 y. b3 [8 \$ T& v' r2 {
8 S+ e1 N/ {4 u) G) Y* [That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. 6 y3 p: [$ b6 v; H2 _
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“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency.
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/ ^* i- [( |7 g2 g- vSumner 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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“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said.
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0 n% D6 H& }/ T Q$ E, FAs 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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