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

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Saskatchewan lures Albertans
. s# o. h5 C, {( M( Y8 [9 HMike Sadava, The Edmonton Journal
# `/ {2 e+ d" L# m  T5 wPublished: Friday, March 30, 2007
EDMONTON - Albertans are starting to be Saskatchewan-bound in growing numbers.

# q6 V* j& p7 s8 s, 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.
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According to Statistics Canada, 128 more Albertans moved one province east in the last three months of 2006.
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% {9 S0 h2 K/ M"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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% X0 B. H, o5 k; {7 B' eFor 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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+ F5 j5 U0 b" M# g& ~6 ^9 \- {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.
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Cam moved here eight years ago to take a course in architectural drafting.

& k, `% w5 p% `/ K2 AThere 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.

! s6 D+ @" C6 D7 q! [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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"Because the economy is so much bigger in Saskatchewan now, there are jobs again," Crystal Hamilton said.

They 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.

& v' K6 j, d% S- o"We're financially set now," she said. "It was perfect timing and turned out to be good idea in many ways."

She said they liked Edmonton, other than the traffic, and made a lot of friends here who they will miss.
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% U( z  @, q+ O/ B# z1 R"It was sad to move, but it's also good to be back."

  \/ P7 Z6 T5 @% TVicki 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.

8 d9 n$ F9 V: d) h  R8 E+ B: l"In the end you have to figure out your priorities, and for us it was not being on the hamster wheel," she said.

* j0 S) q" x5 ^# g; i  F. pWhile 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.

' ^; j5 }0 b9 v, ?( v, d% R8 b; t8 ERod, 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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# q5 k' u) w# I" |6 {+ |% i) X3 r% iSo far Delnea loves the city, finding her neighbours friendly and not missing the traffic of Calgary.

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& M" M" y9 z5 uFrank 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.

"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.

  [; c/ d8 M, v$ \& l( B1 E"Not everyone who moves to a province is there permanently," Trovato said.

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)."

Real 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.
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( b# ^( q6 ?) R! nmsadava@thejournal.canwest.com

AGAINST THE TIDE
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No. of people moving from Alberta to Saskatchewan: 2,838

No. of people moving from Saskatchewan to Alberta: 2,710
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Net loss for Alberta: 128
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# j" Z0 a* S# T- nNet inflow of migrants to Alberta from the rest of Canada: 11,800

9 a! ^% l% U( D* i( @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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, P6 l( \# K* K2 v  x3 X$ CPopulation growth for Sask.: 0.21 per cent

Population growth for all of Canada: 0.14 per cent
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Source: Statistics Canada figures for fourth quarter, 2006