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

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Mike Sadava, The Edmonton Journal
0 g# ~5 a; c8 J1 H/ Z& kPublished: Friday, March 30, 2007
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EDMONTON - Albertans are starting to be Saskatchewan-bound in growing numbers.
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2 ?5 ?& U2 b- M  m* S4 KFor 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.

, _4 A4 y" n. P1 _; q5 A9 R6 KAccording to Statistics Canada, 128 more Albertans moved one province east in the last three months of 2006.
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Cam 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

& a; f, q" E  E! OThat is not a huge number, but it is creating smiles in Regina.

/ d7 |9 E" G& W) a, `) `$ h" ^"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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- A7 V8 A4 h$ a* y! \) C5 lFor 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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Even 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.

8 @' B  L1 ^0 A2 o: W/ {Cam 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.

# B/ e( n( [/ ~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.
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- N& E2 X* a& F8 G0 n"Because the economy is so much bigger in Saskatchewan now, there are jobs again," Crystal Hamilton said.
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1 t, W. R6 r$ s7 Q! O2 uThey 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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% J' I# [  ^1 I. M% v- FShe said they liked Edmonton, other than the traffic, and made a lot of friends here who they will miss.

  E! }  e" H: B: m4 R4 b3 u/ ?4 Q3 S"It was sad to move, but it's also good to be back."

Vicki 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.
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1 k6 F& r. X1 j' K: r2 f1 Q"In the end you have to figure out your priorities, and for us it was not being on the hamster wheel," she said.

# ^" j9 m  u7 x- L$ \, WWhile 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.
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" T/ T6 A8 I$ ?7 M  SRod, 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.
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"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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Frank 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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: m0 j* {' [, `. S# x. J- ~"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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There 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.

1 D4 Q. M( |+ V: w$ u6 f"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.

"It seems that every time I pick up the phone it's either 780 or 403 (area codes)."

. Y: M4 b6 d: I* P. ^7 c0 aReal 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
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9 n: H$ b& t$ jNo. of people moving from Alberta to Saskatchewan: 2,838
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No. of people moving from Saskatchewan to Alberta: 2,710

/ k; H' M4 o* C! i' ~1 TNet loss for Alberta: 128
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+ V2 R4 C( D0 p4 v- ^/ wNet inflow of migrants to Alberta from the rest of Canada: 11,800
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- l3 _# F7 k( c/ FNet inflow of migrants in the fourth quarter 2005: 17,100

: ^7 X* I. b3 u% D" NPopulation growth Alberta: 0.65 per cent
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Population growth for Sask.: 0.21 per cent
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8 Y6 y& T- z! R/ q( U# [' G5 oPopulation growth for all of Canada: 0.14 per cent

Source: Statistics Canada figures for fourth quarter, 2006

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这是些有先见且有勇气的人们。
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