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

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Mike Sadava, The Edmonton Journal
Published: Friday, March 30, 2007
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  K2 c& b! j0 UEDMONTON - Albertans are starting to be Saskatchewan-bound in growing numbers.

For 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.

7 \! a8 t  a5 [" l! h( h/ PAccording to Statistics Canada, 128 more Albertans moved one province east in the last three months of 2006.



7 v( c, _! v6 z! V3 z( d4 R' v+ kCam and Crystal Hamilton and their 11-month-old son Brady move back to Regina from Edmonton. Now they're in a bigger house and debt-free.
Photograph by : Regina Leader-Post
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That is not a huge number, but it is creating smiles in Regina.
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; V$ M) G. u4 j5 C"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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For years, between 2,000 and 4,000 Saskatchewan residents per quarter would head out to Alberta in search of the good life.
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% L! e2 T- ?& P$ Z5 x% u$ ?: h- TEven 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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Statistics 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.

  I& K$ O3 j, _0 f/ r1 OCam 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.

; S# w% ~# c) _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.

7 b& ?) W' Z* x+ m1 k9 h"Because the economy is so much bigger in Saskatchewan now, there are jobs again," Crystal Hamilton said.
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% }% g( q3 V6 u( }2 v5 oThey 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.

"We're financially set now," she said. "It was perfect timing and turned out to be good idea in many ways."
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+ @2 ^; L6 P( |. e4 ^, wShe said they liked Edmonton, other than the traffic, and made a lot of friends here who they will miss.

2 P% ~5 o) c: o; A5 f0 O: x+ f"It was sad to move, but it's also good to be back."
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  g+ ^1 Q7 g" F! o7 YVicki 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.

1 {4 J/ u/ D( i& S"In the end you have to figure out your priorities, and for us it was not being on the hamster wheel," she said.

% W8 D& N5 i; \% G4 V  @8 P* Q( sWhile 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.

! T) A' y0 z0 c1 QRod, 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.

$ N5 H& {4 t+ X: D4 A"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?' "
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So far Delnea loves the city, finding her neighbours friendly and not missing the traffic of Calgary.
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& {5 A% g7 D/ @, HFrank 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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% h; [) e# [  ~; H"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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* V" i+ n1 y2 d+ G# E! dThere 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.
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8 D$ \, X4 F( \8 j% w' Y"Not everyone who moves to a province is there permanently," Trovato said.
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Terry 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)."

+ z( n, P5 k* x: }0 IReal 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.

AGAINST THE TIDE

- @$ y4 p, u0 X* L2 x) Y* s) KNo. of people moving from Alberta to Saskatchewan: 2,838

No. of people moving from Saskatchewan to Alberta: 2,710

8 T1 M/ {. Y; u; XNet loss for Alberta: 128

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

  U& o, I2 v3 c5 k: t) `Net inflow of migrants in the fourth quarter 2005: 17,100
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Population growth Alberta: 0.65 per cent
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$ D8 A& z8 E* L! h0 N2 h7 Q: UPopulation growth for Sask.: 0.21 per cent

Population growth for all of Canada: 0.14 per cent
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6 E  [, r5 l- Z8 e! ?) X8 l+ |Source: Statistics Canada figures for fourth quarter, 2006

yj151

这是些有先见且有勇气的人们。