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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
, E8 z9 C1 W$ o# `From Today's Edmonton Journal
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4 e9 |5 ?1 b% U8 G1 c/ uMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. , s$ ~0 V p' [% \& u0 G0 ~
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From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta.
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; {4 K8 r( Q) q6 Z" A+ S: M) P* ]5 HThat means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. ; q/ X9 J& w8 f* Q& a! D
( f8 Q2 f8 @- T4 UOnly 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. 6 e! R; J# K( K7 ?. t& N9 W3 C
9 L3 x! \3 y9 K0 v5 P' [6 SIt was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95.
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It followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. . C' y4 w8 H7 r0 r$ s, m" {0 V
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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.
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“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
" i$ @# H7 C o& D* c! g" x0 S! _9 `“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. : |/ q8 R9 e2 \/ e9 e
~1 W7 Q0 x0 G* x: K8 y6 ]“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.” & R1 ^: Z; |) }( f- F; r; n) |
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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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5 z y' s [2 b$ K8 MStatistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million. 1 B7 y8 }* A- l+ Y2 s6 N
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That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. " [$ u- d) h8 E- X p
^! ^6 L4 P5 Y' W, ]& Y“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency.
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& _4 L* q9 o+ USumner 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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" B4 c, `6 X3 _# i. g' i/ |6 j% ZAs 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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