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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses; o5 ^6 z; Q7 Q3 Y o
From Today's Edmonton Journal
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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/ ]0 f e7 X5 s3 ZFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta.
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* L& b9 I! |, t2 \7 Z3 w; i& TThat means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. 8 i5 M v' D9 b& k& \
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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.
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& @5 t, c0 C% w! N% p6 X ?Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces.
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; k$ ~; j7 l( f% p2 e: f( d- pIt was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. ! q, }7 n( ^6 y# s
+ n1 r" m, h9 g) X7 g0 r; vIt followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. 5 H% D/ w6 M5 q9 D2 m4 `
) { V" ]. R' S& p# p9 eATB 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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9 _* T9 q0 H& B1 k9 V7 N8 r“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. * X2 E: E4 z! l5 v7 i. K
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. % O/ [ M3 k6 f2 ] p
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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.”
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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. " w% V/ V$ I) y6 b% ]
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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. / ^; H& m, B' a6 r6 B
. F1 f4 X% E+ [/ kThat was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births.
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9 x' X. f, A; |! e! g“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. 0 {" V7 J J ?% {0 Q. |
" h* n- u0 E1 u0 S; {. ?0 G, OSumner 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. 8 l* H' g0 F: L# D
3 k/ ], J! M- O# J$ YAs 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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