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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
2 ?5 p' Z( B' ^From Today's Edmonton Journal' ~) A% F3 p# \' l. z, t
6 B" t( _. M; i2 m5 ]Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. + r+ H% L# H3 S6 L$ E4 r
, P1 g% {$ f6 d0 ]From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. - X8 H0 k( r" L9 ]9 V
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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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y- A! i, O' j2 v: 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. ! H! @. S% A* f7 L. s; I
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It 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.
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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. ; N0 F( @0 X6 ]2 \
& h/ j: B* |, g0 a+ c! h& Y“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
1 _8 \$ p" Z% i1 |3 s; I% Q“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. ) ?0 t+ }; Q, T7 e4 a; L
/ n& W% `) K' A/ r1 A* K3 ^“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. 2 U- W+ n7 P. e+ q# T" u
8 N/ Z7 X3 w: u, vStatistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million. & _. n1 e. s4 P" K% E' O5 ~; B
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That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. : ~7 y$ c; P) @* A" `7 i% H0 N: m
# B, B$ C1 p# M# H8 P5 H! ^$ o3 W+ e“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency.
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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. . Q7 \2 n; r) d, R7 U
+ I: d3 ], c- O/ j( \: v- s" ~“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said.
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5 ?/ v3 Q! O# j3 K2 _: j1 q* L7 iAs 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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