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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
& I4 y4 j( A& R* o& U0 EFrom Today's Edmonton Journal
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, o8 B7 Z: E FMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. ' Y( a- b0 S! a4 |- u: _- z
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From 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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Only 312 Canadians moved to Alberta in the first three months of the year and Alberta posted net losses in the two quarters before that. ; L$ `0 k Q: T- m2 o5 T# E: p
2 k6 P& t- K% Z, YBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. : ^$ e k" j0 M9 _* H' V) F C
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It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. ) J; {5 @6 q- m0 L
$ Z x" P( v7 ?1 l3 cIt 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. $ t0 H( Z/ `4 }6 k: e( |. l. x, T1 Z
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“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. ; v* ~+ E; |2 q+ J
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. 8 \/ X! \) ~ a! u4 r0 d/ h5 N
3 T7 X2 N& k# y# ^# c0 \( n“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.” + T* ~3 m3 S/ e: s% z2 I0 s
6 ?0 k0 T: V2 K& j6 o1 WBut he said a still-recovering job market in Alberta means a quick return to the pace of migration seen during the boom is unlikely. * D3 h& T! }/ E/ i
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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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. D5 Y. W1 t6 AThat was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births.
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3 U/ T2 K# f& N% g- b“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency.
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0 ?* ]8 \7 z% j# D5 F9 y/ `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. 4 B1 X0 Z7 V5 g0 O
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“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said.
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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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